Orchids, Quidditch And A Basilisk
by LEGOLOTRlove
Summary: Padme Black never wondered where her peculiar powers came from, yet, with James Potter's involvement, she soon discovers hidden secrets about her ancestry that might change the way she sees herself. With the help of her brother, her Muggle-born best friend and the three Potter siblings, she tries to unravel a Hogwarts mystery while managing studying, Quidditch and a new pet snake.
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

King's cross was noisy and crowded however a distinct scream was suddenly heard. Padme Black had just hit her little brother, Anakin.

Both siblings were quite alike. They had dark brown hair with bright eyes and a certain penchant for trouble. It was however understandable since their parents were always on business trips. They often stayed with their aunt Angelica, who wasn't so keen on discipline and rules, especially the ones concerning the use of magic. Indeed, Padme and Anakin were wizards. However, that specific morning, Elizabeth Black was there trying to calm both her children.

"You two calm down or I turn you both into squids!" said Elizabeth firmly

Both children stopped immediately knowing their mother was not joking. They continued walking until they arrived between platforms 9 and 10. There, without any hesitation, they ran through a brick wall to platform nine and three quarters.

Goodbyes were said as Padme hopped on the train with all the other Hogwarts students. She waved one last time at her brother, who would be able to join her on the train in three years. Smiling he waved back and watched the train slowly disappear.

Padme walked to a compartment where a blond haired girl sat alone.

"May I sit here?" she asked

"Of course!" the blonde answered with a smile

"Thank you," Padme said, returning the smile

"Is it your first year at Hogwarts?"

"Yes, I'm super excited! I can't wait to learn complicated spells and transfiguration and defense against the dark arts! Oh, and I really want to sneak into the kitchen and see the elves! Is it your first year as well?" asked Padme excitedly

"Yeah…You seem to know a lot about Hogwarts, do you mind telling me more about it?"

"Muggle-born?" Padme asked with a smirk

"Pardon me? What does that mean?"

"Definitely Muggle-born," Padme said with a smile, "Muggle-born means that your parents are Muggles, non-wizards."

"Then yes, I'm a Muggle-born. Is that a bad thing?"

"No, not at all. It only means that you'll have more things to learn!"

"I'm Jennifer by the way, what's your name?"

"I'm Padme," she said with a smile.

Padme really liked Jennifer and hoped they would be in the same house.

After a few hours, the train stopped and all the students got off. They walked into the school and gasps could be heard as they entered the Great hall and saw a witch dressed in emerald green.

Headmistress McGonagall, the lady clad in green, gave a small speech and then started to call names.

Padme was busy staring around the hall so as her name was called third she didn't hear it.

"Black, Padme" McGonagall called for a second time

Jennifer nudged her and Padme went up to the stool.

The hat was placed on her head and she heard a strange voice.

"-Very interesting…"

"Can you see all my thoughts?" asked Padme to the hat

"I'm analyzing, stop asking questions. Very smart, you could do well in Ravenclaw, but also very bold and brave, Gryffindor could be a good house for you, yet Slytherin could also help you, so very cunning and with great power and talent…"

"Have you made up your mind yet?"

"It's your mind that has to be made up!"

"Well, all the houses sound great!"

"I need just a little detail more to place you in the right house. Anything you would like to add to help me, dearie?"

"Er… I can talk to snakes! Does that help?"

"Why didn't you say that earlier?"

"Well I thought you could see all my thoughts. If you would have answered my question earlier we would have saved a lot of time!"

"I'm getting a hat-ach…"

"Why don't you just yell my house in the Great Hall and get it over with? It doesn't smell so good in here!"

"Fine…SLYTHERIN!"

The hat was removed from Padme's head and she could see all the eyes in the room starring at her, she hopped off the stool and went to join the Slytherin table where they all cheered and welcomed her.

"Welcome to Slytherin house, I'm Andrew, I'm Head boy. If you have any questions you can ask me."

"OK, thank you. Can I ask you something now?"

"You stayed 15 minutes under the hat, that's why everyone was staring at you."

"How did you know I was going to ask that?"

"A hunch," he said smiling.

Padme looked at the front of the hall where Patil, Aladdin was being sorted. She looked at the students still standing, Jennifer was among them.

The Headmistress continued and Potter, James was called as everyone in Gryffindor cheered loudly. James Potter was obviously placed in Gryffindor and then came:

Walker, Jennifer

Padme realized she was probably getting her hopes up for nothing because despite the fact that she had a lot of fun with Jennifer on the train, she was a Muggle-born and Slytherin house was not famous for its numerous Muggle-born students. She still waited anxiously to hear the Sorting Hat's verdict.

"SLYTHERIN" was heard across the room and Padme bounced with joy, welcoming her new friend to the table. At the same time she realized two more boys had come to the table as well.

"I'm so glad we're in the same house!" said Padme

"Me too!" said Jennifer

Padme turned and introduced herself to the two boys:

"Hi, I'm Padme Black and this is my friend Jennifer."

"Alexander Zabini, nice to meet you."

"I'm Simon Carter, nice meeting you as well"

The four quickly became friends as they enjoyed one grand and magical meal.


	2. ONE

ONE

Five years later

"See you later, Jen! Ani and I will try to find Al, we'll probably be in the compartments in the back."

The two siblings walked to the end of the train to find their friend and fellow Slytherin, Albus Severus Potter.

"Padme, here he is."

"Hey, Al!"

"Hi! How was your summer?" asked Albus

"It was great! How about yours?" answered Padme

"It was good, I hung out a lot with Rose and Scorpius but, you know, I'm sometimes sort of a third wheel…"

"Speaking of those two, where are they?" asked Anakin

"Haven't you guessed? Correct me if I'm wrong, Al, but I'm pretty sure they both got their prefect badges."

It was obvious that Scorpius and Rose would be prefects since they always behaved and were very good students.

"You're right!" confirmed Albus

"Well, they're not the only ones who got a new badge…"started Anakin.

"Anakin! I wanted to tell Scorp and Al at the same time," replied Padme, hitting her brother on the shoulder

"Congratulations! And I can pretend to be surprised when you tell it to Scorp if you want," said Albus

"But I haven't even told you yet!"

"I guessed you would be Quidditch Captain," said Albus with a smile.

Padme had been a chaser on the Slytherin Quidditch team since her second year and she was both excited and proud to now be the Captain.

The compartment door opened, and Scorpius and Jennifer entered.

"Hey guys! How was prefect meeting?" asked Anakin

"Boring," answered Jennifer, "Can't believe they make us attend those every single year!"

"It wasn't that bad…"said Scorpius

"Where's Rose?" asked Albus

"She went to see Hugo or something," said Jen

Someone slammed open the door of the compartment and they all jumped. James Potter entered.

"What are you doing here, Potter?"

"Nice to see you too, Malfoy! Isn't it a glorious morning?"

"What do you want, James?" asked Albus

"Me? Nothing much…I simply want to have a word with Black."

"With me?" asked Anakin

"Not with you! I don't even know you! And, don't you have friends your age to hang out with?"

"That's true. I think I'll leave now and go talk to that really hot red-haired girl. What's her name again? Lola? Lilith? Oh, yeah, it's Lily, Lily Luna!"

With a smirk he rushed out before James could catch him. Padme grabbed James' arm so that he wouldn't follow him.

"Don't chase brother!"

"Your brother? Well, he's chasing my sister! I won't tolerate that!"

"She's my sister too, James, and you don't see me trying to knock out every guy that looks at her," said Albus

"I don't…"

"You wanted to have a word with me?" said Padme to stop the upcoming argument.

"Yes, that's true."

"So…"

"I'm here to ask for your help."

"Help? For what?"

"Herbology."

"Aren't you friends with Mr. Longbottom or something?"

"My parents are friends with him, not me. I just happen to know him outside of school."

"Well, why don't you ask him for help?"

"He's not as good looking as you."

"Are you stupid?"

"Please, I was joking. I only want you to help me because Mr. Longbottom told me that I had to do very good in Herbology if I wanted to attend his classes."

"And you need my help because..?"

"Mr. Longbottom can't help me because he wants me to prove to him that I deserve to be in his class, or something like that. However, since I'm really terrible in Herbology for some mysterious reason I need help. That's where you come in. You need to make me plant smart!"

"Plant smart? Really?"

"Please…You're the smartest person I know… And I'll owe you one!"

"Fine."

"Yes! Thank you! Al, you have good friends, except Malfoy maybe…."

"You know I can here you?"

"It was meant for you to hear! So now, I leave because it seems I have a prank to plan on the new Slytherin Quidditch Captain!" said James excitedly

"I wouldn't do that if I were you…" said Padme

"And why is that, Black?"

"Because you just asked the Slytherin Quidditch Captain to tutor you in Herbology, so unless you want to fail that class…"

"Oh! Well that changes everything! Guess I have a prank to cancel then! Goodbye! By the way, I did mean it when I said you were good looking, Black. Toodles!"

James winked and quickly shut the door behind him.

"Looks like someone will be spending a lot of time with the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain," laughed Jennifer.

"I bet Padme and James will be dating in less than 2 months!" said Albus

"What? Me and Potter? Is this some kind of weird joke?"

"No, two months is way too fast. I bet they'll kiss under a mistletoe before the Christmas holidays and start dating then!" suggested Jennifer

"You too, Jen? Please, Scorpius, tell me you don't believe in this nonsense." Begged Padme

"This is nonsense... I bet they'll date right after their first meeting!"

"Oh, please… James Potter? I don't think so…"

"That's for now!" laughed Jennifer

The train stopped and they all got off, excited to finally start the delicious beginning of the year feast. The four of them sat down next to Anakin and his friend Josh at the Slytherin table.

They whispered as the sorting began:

"Remember when you were sorted, Padme?" asked Jen.

"What happened?" asked Scorpius

"I spent 15 minutes under that stupid hat."

"Wow! That must have been the longest sorting in all of Hogwarts history! Why did it take so long?" asked Al

"The hat and I maybe had a little argument..."

"That would explain a lot!" said Anakin

"How would that explain anything? Your sorting barely took a minute, you can't possibly compare it to mine!"

"No, that's not it! The hat, it said something like "Oh my, her brother!" and then he said "Just as I feared!", so I asked him what was going on and he only asked me if I could talk to snakes, so I said yes and he put me in Slytherin. You must've told him you were a Parselmouth as well!"

"It's true! I did tell him that."

"Wait…you guys are Parselmouths?" asked Al

"Yeah…what's wrong with that?" asked Anakin

"Nothing, I just wondered, because my dad, he can speak Parseltongue too."

"Well, if we ever meet him, we can tell him you're an idiot without you knowing it!" laughed Padme.

"Hey!"

"I'm just joking, sorry."

"I know," laughed Al.

"Parseltongue is speaking to snakes, right?" asked Jennifer

"Yeah," answered Scorpius

"Sorry! Muggle-born, remember?!"

"Haha, yeah, don't worry about it" they all answered

They all hurried to their common room after dinner and talked all night with their fellow Slytherins, getting only a few hours of sleep and waking up tired the next morning.

"Double potions, first period in the morning, not too bad," said Padme

"That's because you like potions and Professor Lima loves you," replied Jennifer

"You didn't even take potions! Why are you complaining?"

"I'm not complaining! It's just that mixing stuff isn't my greatest talent!"

"Just like taking care of plants and herbs isn't Potter cup of tea!"

"Potter…"

"What about him?"

"I didn't see Albus this morning…"

"Maybe he woke up early and went to hang out in the Gryffindor common room or something!"

"Why would he do that?"

"I don't know! I was only illustrating one of the numerous and mysterious possibilities!"

"Fine…"


	3. TWO

TWO

 **Parts in** _ **italic**_ **are Parseltongue**

Padme headed to the potions class room alone since all her fellow Slytherins of sixth year didn't take potions. She entered the class and saw two Ravenclaws, one Hufflepuff and one Gryffindor already seated. She sat on a stool and waited while flipping through the pages of her Advanced Potion Making book. Then, suddenly she felt something grab her shoulders. She was so surprised she screamed, turned and threw a punch to what was standing there: James Potter.

He stumbled on the shelves behind him and almost knocked down some small vials of green liquid.

"What did you do that for?" asked James

"Why did you grab my shoulders like that?" answered Padme

"I wanted to scare you! Isn't obvious?" he replied

"Well, I didn't want to be scared! Isn't that obvious too?"

"Fair enough," James said as he sat on the stool next to Padme.

"No way! No, you're not sitting here," she said

"Everywhere else is taken!"

"That's not true, go sit at that table alone!"

"But then I won't have a partner!"

"I don't want to be your partner! You suck at Herbology and can't imagine you being extremely gifted at potion making!"

"Come on...I'll work, I swear. You saw me all these past years, I'm actually not that bad at potion making!"

"Fine."

"Thanks Black, you're the best!"

"I know. "

The teacher arrived in class and started her lesson.

"Potions is a difficult class and I expect all of you here to have the will to put the necessary efforts into achieving it. Did I make myself clear?" asked Professor Lima

"Yes, Professor," the class answered

"Very well, let's start, shall we?" she added with excitement in her eyes.

Professor Lima was a young woman with brown hair often tied in a braid. It was only her fifth year of teaching at Hogwarts. She replaced Slughorn when he retired, for the second time. She was always very passionate about everything concerning potions and was nice, but she held discipline well in her class.

"How on Merlin's beard did you manage to make it in my class Mr. Potter?" she asked after scanning the class with her eyes.

"I got an E in my OWLs!" James answered proudly

"No spell was implied? No trick, no charm? Nothing?"

"I promise!"

"I hope you're telling the truth!" she answered with a smile. He was.

Professor Lima asked them to brew a euphoria potion in teams of two as a first task this year.

"The fun begins," whispered Potter

"Don't you dare spoil our potion!" said Padme, worried about the suspicious look on his face.

"Oh, please, the only thing I'll do is help. It took me two hours of searching but I found it," he said with satisfaction as he pulled out an old book from his bag.

"Why do you have a destroyed version of the potion book?"

"Destroyed? No. Upgraded."

Padme looked at the book, black ink stained the pages everywhere. She looked closer and realized that those were notes, left by a former student. She flipped the pages until she found a name.

"This book belongs to the Half-Blood Prince…"she read out loud

"Yep! And now it's mine!"

"Who the hell is the Half-Blood Prince?"

"Ever heard of Severus Snape?"

"Him?"

James nodded.

"It would make some kind of sense. He was your father's teacher and your father told you about that book! Wait…Severus…Is Al named after him?" Padme asked

"Wow, it's a wonder you're not in Ravenclaw…"

They brewed the potions successfully with the help of the Half-Blood Prince and Professor Lima was more than pleased.

"It's good to see you again Miss Black, you too Potter. I'm glad you finally decided to put some effort in your work!"

"Thank you, Professor," they both answered as she left.

"You know what, Potter? I'm actually glad you're my potion partner!"

Padme was walking to the Great Hall for lunch. She saw Jen and Al and was about to run to catch up with them when she heard a peculiar sound. Some kind of whisper coming from the walls. It sounded at first like sobs, but then, words could be made out.

" _Mommy, where's my mommy? Help_!" and it stopped.

She found it very odd and ran to the Great Hall to ask her friends if they had heard the sobs too. Not finding Al and Jen, she went to sit next to her brother and Lily Potter. James passed in front of them but then stopped and sat down as Padme asked her question.

"Any of you heard something weird in the hallway?"

"No," answered Lily

"Neither did I," said James

"I heard a noise," said Anakin, "at first it sounded like soft sobs but then I thought it was probably just the water running in the pipes."

"Someone or something was calling for help," Padme said, "I'm sure of it."

"But how come we didn't hear anything?" asked Lily

James whispered something inaudible.

"What did you say?" asked Anakin

"It can't be…" said James.

"Potter! What the hell are you talking about?" yelled Padme as James stood up. He walk to the other side of the room to fetch Al. They talked for a while and then both came to sit back in front of the others.

"Both you and Anakin heard the voices, but none of us did. What can you both do, that none of us can do?" asked Al

"Take the helm of a ship!" answered Anakin

"No you idiot! We can speak Parseltongue!" whispered Padme

"You guys can speak Parseltongue? Why didn't you tell me, Anakin?" asked Lily

"It never popped into my mind, I'm sorry," he answered

"Aren't you surprised, James?" asked Padme

"No, Al told me on earlier this year."

"Why did you tell him?" Padme asked with some kind of fury in her eyes, "You shouldn't go tell everyone that you have friends that can talk to snakes. It'll put us in a lot of trouble."

"I know. Don't worry, I only told James and he promised not to tell anyone."

"Does that mean there's a snake in the wall?" asked Anakin

"Not any snake," said Al with a worried look in his eyes.

"But dad killed the basilisk!" whispered Lily as she finally understood

"The voice was calling for its mom. Maybe the basilisk had a baby?" suggested Padme

"There's only one way to find out," said Lily

"Ask Dad!"

"Find the Chamber of Secrets!"

Al and James starred at each other. They didn't have the same idea.

"Why on earth would you want to go alone into the Chamber of Secrets?" asked Al

"I won't go alone. The two Parselmouths here will be with me! "

"That's dangerous, James," warned Al

"Whatever you guys are doing, Ani and I are going in the Chamber," decided Padme

"Ani, what a cute nickname," said James pinching Anakin's cheek. Anakin shoved his hand away.

"Stop it!"

"Fine," said James," but you guys don't even know where the Chamber is. How do you expect to find it?"

"It's not like you know!" said Anakin

"We actually do know," answered Lily

"How?" asked Anakin

"Their dad! Try to be smarter would you?" said Padme

"So, here's the plan," said James, "We enter the Chamber of Secrets tonight and try to find out if the basilisk is still alive or if it had a baby. Lily and I will meet you at the door of the Slytherin common room at midnight. Sounds good?"

"I think we should still tell dad," said Albus

"Fine," agreed James," Write him a letter and send it to him!"

"Why does it have to be me?" asked Albus

"Because you're the one who wants to tell dad about it!" said Lily

"Well said sister, well said," approved James

"But aren't you going to tell us where the Chamber is?" asked Padme

"No. We're going to show you tonight!" answered James, smirking

"Wake up! Wake up!"

Padme had fallen asleep in the Slytherin common room while waiting for midnight with Al and her brother. Anakin was now shaking her awake.

"They're here," Anakin informed her

"Ok, I'm coming."

The three of them made their way to the door and met James and Lily on the other side.

"You have the map, Al?" whispered James

"Yeah, you have the cloak?" he replied

"Lily has it," he answered

"We won't all fit under the cloak," said Lily

"It doesn't matter," said Al, "we're taking it just in case."

"What are you talking about?" asked Padme

"Do we tell them?" asked Lily

"Of course we tell them! How do you expect us to use them and not let them know?" asked Al

"Waiting for an answer here!" said Padme as she was getting impatient

"We have an Invisibility cloak," said James

"Wow," gasped Padme

"Wicked!" added Anakin

"What about the map?" asked Padme

"We present to you the Marauder's Map," said Al as he proudly took an empty piece of parchment out of his pocket.

"Usually," said Padme, "maps aren't blank…"

"Watch closely," said James.

He pulled out his wand, tapped on the parchment and whispered:

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

At his words, dark lines began to draw themselves on the map along with small dots and names.

"Is that Hogwarts?" asked Anakin

"Yep! And everyone in it!" answered Lily

"How did you even get that?" asked Padme

"We can't tell you everything!" James pointed out

"Come on guys," said Al, "let's get to the Chamber of Secrets."

"That's how you're going to find it! By using the map!" realized Padme

"No, the Chamber isn't on the map, along with the Room of Requirements," corrected James

"You know about the Room of Requirements?" demanded Anakin

"Don't be stupid enough to think you and your sister are the only ones who know about it," said James

"Don't call my brother stupid!" snapped Padme

"I'm sorry…Ani," apologized James with a smirk

"So how do we get to the Chamber of Secrets if it's not on the map?" asked Padme

"Our dad told us the entrance was in the girl's bathroom on the second floor," answered Al

"Then why'd we bring the map?" asked Lily

"To see if anyone is patrolling the hallways!" answered James

"Ok, ok, no need to get all frustrated about it," she replied

"Can we get going?" asked Anakin impatiently

"Let's go!" Declared Padme

They made their way to the second floor without being caught, James watching the map and making them stop to hide every once in a while when a teacher or a ghost was in the hallway.

They entered the bathroom when Padme realized something:

"This is Moaning Myrtle's bathroom!"

"Is that a problem?" asked Al

"No, I'm just grateful Jen isn't here. Myrtle and Jen don't exactly get along so well…"

"It actually is a problem," said James, "we have to make sure she doesn't see us and doesn't here us. She can't know we're here or she'll go howling, waking everyone up."

"True," agreed Al

"How about someone goes in first and check if she's there. If she's not there, then we can proceed to our plans but if she's there, we have to find a way to get her out," suggested Padme

"I'll go," said Lily

"If she's there, just tell her Peeves is looking for her in the fifth floor's bathroom. Tell her it's urgent," said James

"Won't she be angry that we lied to her?" questioned Albus

"If all goes well, she won't know it was us," answered Padme

"Ok then, here I go." said Lily

She entered the bathroom without a sound and peeked inside. She then waved at them. All was clear.

"Dad said he looked for something snake related," said James

"Well, let's start looking!" decided Padme

They searched for about a minute, when Lily found a small snake carving on one of the faucets.

"Black, it's time to do your thing!" declared James

"Do you want to do it?" Padme asked Anakin

"I think it would be best if you did it, said Anakin, I need to actually see a real snake to be able to talk Parseltongue."

Padme starred at the small snake and as if it was a real one she whispered: " _Open_!"

There was a loud noise and all the sinks started moving to make place for a huge hole. They all stayed there motionless, staring at the magic in front of them and wondering if anyone else would here the ruckus. When the sinks stopped moving, they remained there, silent. Padme spoke first:

"So, who wants to go in first?

"Wouldn't it be best if Anakin or you went first? To tell the basilisk not to attack us or something," suggested Lily

"No way am I going in there without knowing what's at the bottom," said Anakin, "I think one of you Potters should go first since you know what the Chamber's like."

"And then get eaten by the basilisk? We don't speak Parseltongue! How are we supposed to tell it not to harm us?" said Lily

"It's a slide. It leads to tunnels. Then, there's another door and after that, the real Chamber," said Al trying to remember everything his dad had told them about his visit there.

"Dearest Ani should go first I think," said James, "then he can open the second door."

"No way!" shouted Anakin

They all argued while Padme got closer to the hole and drew her wand. She lit it up and peered inside the dark hole. It looked like a slide. Ish. She glanced at the others who were arguing and back to the hole. She jumped in.

It was indeed a slide. She enjoyed the ride down and landed softly in front of a big round door at the bottom. She heard the others' voices above her.

"Why don't you go? You're in Gryffindor, you're supposed to be brave!" said Al

"Well you're in Slytherin you…"James stopped and looked around

"What is it?" asked Lily

"Where's Black?"

"I'm right here!" Anakin answered

"Not you! Your sister!" said James

Padme was quite pleased with herself. She laughed at the confusion above her and wondered who would realize first that she had gone down the hole.

"-She didn't leave, we would've seen here!" said Albus

"Maybe she was eaten by the basilisk?" gasped Lily with horror

"I'm pretty sure we would've seen the basilisk if it had come up here," said Anakin

"Bloody hell, she went down the hole!" understood James

"She's a better Gryffindor then you!" laughed Anakin

"Shut your mouth!" snapped James

"Well? What are we waiting for?" said Lily as she jumped in the hole.

"Let's go!" said Anakin as he followed her down, James and Albus behind him.

Lily landed on her butt at the end of the slide and Anakin had to hold back not to fall on her. She got back on her feet and move just fast enough not to be hit by Anakin who fell on his chest, James on top of him. Albus followed not long after but was smart enough to slow down at the end, not to fall on top of his brother.

"Why didn't you get out of the way?" asked James with an outrageous look on his face

"I didn't want to squish your sister like you squished me!" Anakin replied while getting back up

"Thank you," said Lily, "it was very kind of you."

She walked closer to him and pecked him on the cheek while James was being held back by Padme and his brother.

"Potter! Stop it!" said Padme

"Relax, James," said Al

"It was only a peck," said Lily with a smile. Next to her, Anakin was grinning.

"I'll turn you into a goat! Why did you kiss him Lily?"

"He was nice, I wanted to be nice too," she answered trying to make her brother calm down

"I'm nice to girls all the time and none of them kiss me!" he replied

"What about Katelyn Thomas?" suggested Albus

"Or that other girl from Hufflepuff who was always after you," added Padme

"They were older than Lily!" said James

-"And stupid enough to want to date you!" said Lily, grinning, "Look at where that went! You barely remember their names!"

"That's because they weren't special and I want you to be special Lily so don't go kissing everyone like that!"

"I don't kiss everyone! I just pecked him on the cheek to thank him for being squished instead of me!"

"Well, you…"

"That's enough!" yelled Padme, "We're here for the basilisk, not for arguing. Let's get going."

She slowly let go of James who decided it best not to attack Anakin while they were so close to the basilisk and he was a Parselmouth. Also, his sister was here too.

Padme spoke the word and the door opened. They ventured inside and had barely time to look around them that Al warned them all to close their eyes.

"You guys better tell it not to kill us," said Lily

"Yeah, its stare may not kill us as long as we close our eyes but it has pretty dangerous fangs," added James

"But how are we supposed to see if it's actually there, if none of us have their eyes open?" asked Anakin

"You're a bloody Parselmouth just call out to it! Ask it to come but not to harm us!" said James

"But what guarantees even if it understands us that it'll listen to us?" asked Padme

"Shit!" yelled James

"I just realized too!" said Albus

"We have to get out of here! Quick!" James yelled

"Why did you bring us here in the first place?" yelled Padme as they were trying their best to find their way back.

"I thought it was obvious that since you were Parselmouths, the basilisk would listen to you but I was wrong," started Al

"The basilisk only obeys to the heir of Slytherin. And that legacy ended with Voldemort!" completed James

"But we're not even sure the basilisk is actually still alive, we may be worrying for nothing," said Padme

"Guys…" started Lily, "I think the basilisk is alive."

They heard it slithering, coming towards them. They turned quickly around and ran for the door and into the tunnel but then arrived to the slide. They all tried climbing up but it was useless, the wall were too slippery to hang on to and it was too deep to jump. They heard the basilisk coming closer.

"How the hell did dad get out?" Lily yelled

"The phoenix saved him!" screamed James

"But there's no bloody phoenix to save us! How on Merlin's hat are we supposed to get back up there?" yelled Padme

"I told you, James! We should've waited for dad's answer!" yelled Al

"Take out your wands! Maybe we can stun it!" suggested Anakin

"You can't stun a basilisk! You need a freaking sword of Gryffindor to kill it!" screamed Al

"Well, we don't have that bloody sword!" yelled Padme

"Close your eyes! It's coming!" warned Lily.

They all stood there, paralysed, almost if the basilisk had already worked his eyes into theirs. They could smell its nasty scent and almost feel its breath on their skin. It was coming. Then Padme screamed:

" _Stop! Don't hurt us! We want to help you_!"

The slithering stopped and they all help their breaths.

" _Stay where you are. Tell us what's wrong_ ," Anakin added

They waited again and then they heard it. The hissing sound of the basilisk's voice, only understandable to Anakin and Padme.

" _My mommy. Why is my mommy dead? I'm hungry. I'm scared. Help me."_

"Oh my lord," was all Padme could say. How do you tell a baby basilisk that its mother was murdered by the father of three people here? Most importantly, what do you do with a living basilisk under your school? Padme was still thinking when Anakin spoke:

" _Your mommy died in an accident. She was doing mean things. She was killing our people because someone ordered her to do it. Someone had to stop her so they killed her…I'm sorry. Don't cry..."_

"That bloody fool," Padme thought. He's going to get us killed. She was waiting for the creature to strike and kill them mercilessly as it sobbed loudly, but nothing of the sort happened.

" _Why…why aren't you crying?"_ she dared to ask

" _He told me not to cry_ ," answered the basilisk

" _You obey him?"_ Padme asked

" _My loyalty is to him and you."_

" _So you won't hurt us or our friends_?" asked Anakin

" _No. She asked not to_."

" _Would you have hurt us had I not commanded you not to do so_?" Padme asked

" _No. You said you wanted to help me_."

" _Yes, you're hungry. We shall get you food. What exactly do basilisk eat_? "

" _I don't know_."

" _Ok. We will get you some food. But for now, we're stuck here. We can't get food unless we can get out. How do we get out_?" asked Anakin

" _I'll take you out. Climb on my back_."

"Bloody hell…"said Padme

"Tell us what's going on!" said James

"Does the basilisk obey you?" asked Albus

" _Do we tell them?"_ asked Anakin

" _What other choice do we have?"_ answered Padme

"Yes…"Anakin finally answered

"That means you're Salazar Slytherin's heirs!" shouted Lily

"How is that even possible?" asked Anakin

"Let's figure out a way to get out of here first shall we?" suggested James

"Ask the basilisk to close its eyes so we can open ours. I feel very vulnerable not seeing anything," added Al

" _Close your eyes, please. If not, you'll kill us_ ," asked Anakin

" _Yes_ , the basilisk answered as it shut his eyes. _You can open yours now_."

They all slowly open their eyes and gasped at the gigantic creature in front of them.

"So how do we get out?" asked James

"We have to get on the basilisk's back and he'll take us up," answered Padme

"Bloody hell," said Al

"That's what I said," Padme reminded him

"Well, what are we waiting for?" asked James

"We have to get it food also!" said Anakin

"That means we have to come back down here? No way," said Al

"We promised!" said Padme

"It's your problem not mine!" replied Al

"You made it your problem when you decided to come down here with us, all three of you!" shouted Padme

"She's right," conceded James

"Maybe we don't have to come back down," said Lily

"What are you suggesting?" asked James

"Kreacher!" she yelled brightly

An ugly looking house elf apparated in front of them.

"What does Miss Lily require of Kreacher?" The elf asked

"Go fetch us two cooked chickens!" she asked

"Mistress wants Kreacher to steal from the kitchen?"

"Borrow, not steal. It's to feed our friend here. They should all be thankful for us feeding him so he doesn't eat them!" she answered

"What do the Masters think about it?" Kreacher asked turning to Albus and James

"Do as she said," they answered

"And Kreacher," Lily added, "don't tell anyone in anyway about this. Don't even mention it to the other elves!"

Kreacher disapparated with a crack.

"I can't believe you have a house elf!" said Padme

"He's quite ugly," added Anakin

"He's quite useful," replied James

"Yeah, thank Merlin mom and dad leave him at school!" said Al

"That's how you get all the food without going to the kitchen!" said Anakin

"Yeah, we always had to go all the way up to get some food! You could've told us!" said Padme

"We can't tell all our secrets," answered Al.

Kreacher apparated at that moment with two huge chickens in his hand. He threw them on the floor in front of the basilisk. He glanced curiously at Anakin and Padme and disapparated once again.

They let the basilisk eat and then asked him to bring them back to the girls' bathroom.

"It's quite a bit slimy," Lily noticed

"I don't care, just hold on," said James

"We're ready!" Padme told the basilisk.

It was like a rollercoaster. The basilisk was quick in bringing them back up and waited patiently as they climbed off his back.

" _Thank you_ ," Anakin said

" _Will you come and visit me?"_ The basilisk asked

" _Of course_ ," answered Padme, " _we will bring more food too_."

" _But you have to be good, stay down there and don't make too much noise. Only call us if there's an emergency. Call our names. Anakin and Padme. Got it?"_ said Anakin

" _Yes."_

" _Thank you again_ ," Padme added.

The basilisk went back into the hole while they all stayed there, flabbergasted as the sinks went back to their original locations.

"How is it possible that we're Slytherin's heir?" asked Padme

"I don't know, and I don't know who would know!" said James

"That's a mystery that remains yet to be solved!" said Anakin

"I hope it'll be solved soon, said Padme, but don't you think the Sorting Hat would've known?"

"I don't think it's his job to know that kind of thing," answered Al

"Oh well, it's getting late. We'd better head back to our common room. But first, we need to take a bath. We stink," declared Lily.

"We can't go to the bathrooms in the common rooms, everyone will smell us and wonder what we've been doing," said Anakin

"We could use the prefects' bathroom," suggested James

"None of us here are prefects! How do you expect us to know where it is and what's the password?" asked Anakin

"I know!" said Lily

"How?" Al asked

"Rose showed me where it was."

"What about the password?" said James

"That, I don't know," Lily answered

"It's _Respect_ , Jen keeps telling me the passwords in case she forgets," said Padme

" _Respect_? What a stupid password!" laughed James, "I bet I could've guessed it!"

They headed to the prefect bathroom and decided that girls should bathe on one side and guys on the other. They let the warm water fall and open the different taps. Soon, the bath was filled with thousands of bubbles of various colors.

When they were done, they realized they couldn't put their smelly clothes back on and the idea of running around school just wearing a towel was immediately refused. Once again, Kreacher proved very useful. James asked him to fetch everyone's pajamas and bring them back here.

He left for a few moments and then apparated with a pile of clothes and a wide smile across his face. They changed into their pajamas before asking him about his sudden happiness.

"Why are you grinning like that Kreacher? What have you done?" asked James

"Nothing bad, nothing bad", answered Kreacher

"Then what is it?" James asked

"Kreacher found him!"

"What do you mean you found him?" asked James with a puzzled look on his face

"Master Regulus' son!"

"If you're talking about me, my father's name is Will not Regulus," said Anakin

"Yes, yes!" cried Kreacher

"What is he talking about?" Padme asked James

"Kreacher, explain immediately what you are talking about," James ordered Kreacher.

"Black. Kreacher saw it on their trunks while he was getting their clothes. They are Master Regulus' grandchildren."

"Black is not such a rare name and Regulus didn't have any children," said Albus

"You wouldn't know! You weren't there!" snapped Kreacher, "When he had just joined the Dark Lord, Master Regulus had a child but he was young and did not want to disappoint Mistress. He left the child with the mother gave her money and explained that he had to go. Then he left. Then, he said to me "Kreacher, you must look out for the baby. His name is William. Make sure he turns out well." And so Kreacher looks for the baby, but doesn't find him. Kreacher was very sad, he betrayed his Master. But now, Kreacher found the grandchildren, Kreacher can honor Master Regulus' will!"

"So first we learn that we're the heirs of Slytherin and now we learn that this Regulus was our grandfather! That's a lot we didn't know of our family!" said Padme

"How do we know it's true, what he's saying?" asked Anakin

"He can't lie to us," said Lily

"Let's just go to bed. It's already past 3 a.m. We'll talk about it in the morning," said Padme

They all left and went to bed.


	4. THREE

THREE

Morning did not go so well. Padme woke up to the sound of Jennifer's voice.

"We're going to be late for Defense against the Dark Arts! Hurry up! You've already missed breakfast! Come on! Wake up!"

Less than 4 hours of sleep did not work well with Padme. She slowly opened her eyes and tried her best to pretend she was rushing, however, Jen was not convinced.

"I'm leaving without you!"

"No, please wait," begged Padme

"Then hurry up!"

"But I'm tired…"

"Serves you right, coming back here at half past three in the morning! What were you doing out so late?"

"I was…"

"Yes?"

"Tutoring Potter!"

"With Al and Anakin? I doubt it."

"How did you…"

"I heard you arguing in the common room before you came to bed."

"Weren't you sleeping?"

"The noise woke me up."

"That means all of the dorm must've heard us!"

"So what?"

"Did you hear what we were talking about?"

"Something about a creature, I think…"

"Did you hear any more about that creature?" asked Padme afraid that her friend would find out about her new giant pet snake.

"Al is his master, that's all I could make out. So what kind of creature is it?"

"Oh…right, Kreacher! He's Al's house elf."

"I didn't know he had a house elf!" said Jennifer

"Neither did I, until yesterday."

"Come on! We're going to be late!"

As Jen predicted they were both late to class but the teacher was kind enough to let them attend his class nonetheless.

"We got lucky," Jen said

"No, last time I was late I told Professor Brigham quite a long story about why I was late and it lasted almost 'til the end of class. I think he just wanted to avoid me telling him another of my wondrous tales," corrected Padme

"Wonderful. Now we better listen or he'll be…"

"Black," whispered James

"What do you want?" she whispered back

"Tutoring. Tonight at seven. Library."

"We can't talk at the library! How am I supposed to tutor you without talking?"

"Fine. Let's meet in an empty classroom. How about Charms?"

"Don't be late."

"Shut it you two," whispered Jen.

The rest of the day went by smoothly until lunch when Quidditch try-outs for the Slytherin team had been settled. Padme quickly ate a sandwich and ran to get changed with Jen. When they arrived at the Quidditch field, most of the people were already there. Four first years were there, along with two boys from second year and five third years. Two fourth years, three fifth years and a seventh year were already there as well. Jen and Padme were the only sixth years and Al and Scorpius were among the fifth years. Padme looked through the third years searching for her brother. That idiot was late. Like always. She was going to start without him.

"Listen up! We had a very good team last year and we won the Quidditch cup. This year, we need an excellent team to win the cup again! Ravenclaw has good strategies and Hufflepuff has good team spirit, but Gryffindor will be the team to beat. This team needs people with skill. Some captains in the past picked players that were bulky, intimidating. I'm not going to do that. If you want to be on this team, you have to deserve it! Show me not only that you are an excellent player, but also show me that you will make this team better. Any questions before we start?

"Are you going to take the same players as last year?" asked a fourth year

"Not necessarily, I know how they play and I know that they are great players but if you prove that you're better than them, then I won't have a choice but to take you instead, she answered with confidence, anything else?"

"Anakin's not coming. He has detention," said one of the third years

"Why?"

"He skipped all of his morning classes," the boy answered

"That bloody idiot…

"Does that mean he won't make the team?" a first year asked hopefully

"I know how he plays. If anyone is better than he is, then no, he won't make the team. But if no one is as good as him, then he will. Sounds fair enough?"

The girl nodded.

"Let's start then!" Padme shouted.

She made them do drills and play simulations and had decided on a great team after an hour. All of last year's remaining team members were chosen and a single new player. She announced this year's team members:

"Keeper: Scorpius Malfoy, Catchers: Jennifer Walker, Elliot Zabini and myself, Beaters: Anakin Black and Alexander Cole, Seeker: Albus Severus Potter!"

She waited for everyone to settle down after congratulating one another and then added:

"Some of you are really talented even though you didn't make the team, you just need more practice. You are free to join our practice once a week if you want to train for next year or just if you want to play a little Quidditch. However, you absolutely cannot be a nuisance, if so, I will throw you out without another glance. Sounds good?"

They all nodded and then left to get changed. Zabini approached Padme.

"Good job on becoming Quidditch Captain! I didn't have time to congratulate you yet."

"Thank you. I honestly thought you would get the badge, you've been on the team longer than I have…"

"Yeah, but that doesn't count! You really have the peppiness and the spirit to be captain. I'm a good player but I don't think I could motivate my team or yell at someone when they do something wrong. You've got the skills for that. I'm glad they chose you, you deserve it."

"Thanks a lot," she said with a smile

"No problem," he answered, "and make sure to make my brother know I've made the team for the seventh year in a row!"

"I'm guessing you'll remember to tell him all the time as well?"

"You bet I will," he said laughing as he walked away.

She quickly went back to the changing rooms and hurried as she dressed, pressured by Jennifer. Being late once today was enough for her.

"Black! I've been waiting for almost ten minutes!"

James Potter was sitting on a desk in the Charms classroom.

"I'm sorry, I had to go feed the basilisk," Padme answered

"I thought I told you Kreacher would take care of it?"

"Well, I wanted to visit it again. I've grown fond of that humongous beast!"

"It's hideous!"

"But it's such an amazing pet. And he's so cute, he's just a baby."

"A 700 pounds baby…very deadly also…"

"Which makes it even better!"

"That's because you can control it! You don't have to fear it!"

"Can we start now?" she asked

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…what do you want to do first?"

"Wouldn't it be best if you decided?"

"You're right," James agreed

"I know."

"Let's start with what we're doing in class this week."

"That's easy! Why would you want us to do that?"

"I decided and you're not happy! This is what I don't understand and we have a paper that's due next week on poisonous orchids so please get your explanations going!"

"Remind me again why I agreed to tutor you?"

"You wanted to get rid of me and probably thought I'd forget about it."

"To be honest I did hope so," she laughed

They studied the different types or orchids, their different dangers and how to handle them for close to an hour, but James Potter's attention span rarely lasted that long.

"What are your parents' names?" he asked her

"Why would you want to know that?"

"Isn't it evident? I want to know if your father's name is Voldemort to know if you are truly the descendant of good old Salazar!"

"You're an idiot. Voldemort isn't my father! My father's name is William, Anakin told you yesterday."

"True, but that's on the Black side of the family. What about your mom? Maybe she's the Slytherin heir?"

"Nah. My mom and her sister were Muggle-born."

"Maybe they were adopted! That would explain why your grandparents are Muggles and not them."

"They weren't adopted."

"I'm sure there's another explanation. We just have to find it."

"Is it just possible that I'm not Slytherin's heir?"

"No. The basilisk wouldn't obey you."

"Maybe he knows!" exclaimed Padme

"He's just a baby!"

"It's still worth a try!"

"Let's go!"

"What about the orchids?"

"That's enough for today!" decided James

"If you say so!"

"But we can't go right now…"

"Why not?"

"Everyone will hear the sinks moving."

"Tonight then?" asked Padme

"Yeah, I'll meet you at your common room at twelve."

"At nine. Twelve is way too late."

"Fine. But be subtle. Ask Al for the Invisibility cloak!"

"Aren't they coming with us? Al, Lily and Anakin?"

"No. We don't need them. Plus, I don't want to see my sister and that brother of yours spending more time together than needed."

"But how do I ask Al for the Invisibility cloak?"

"Only one solution," smiled James

"I'm not going to steal it," she replied

"That wasn't my solution."

"Then what is your solution?"

"Lying."

"What am I supposed to tell him? He really has to buy it."

"Tell him you're meeting up with me but you want it to remain secret."

"What? Why?"

"Well because we have a secret relationship and you don't want anyone to know!"

"But that's not true!"

"I know! That's why it's a lie!" explained James, exasperated

"But then…" started Padme

"Do you want to go see the basilisk or not?"

"Fine!"

"I'll wait for you outside your common room for our date."

"It's not a date!"

"But that's what we're telling Al…" said James

"But it's a lie! We just went over this!"

"Might as well pretend like it's true so he'll believe it."

She had nothing to answer to that so she left. James was being an idiot, but a very adorable idiot. He was smart and fun and also very handsome. Why didn't she want to go on a date with him? Maybe she just didn't want to admit that she wanted to go on an actual date with him…


	5. FOUR

FOUR

Padme had snuck into the boys sleeping quarters. Al was sitting on his bed, reading a book. She didn't know how to say it so he would believe it, but at the same time, not tease her about it. She checked that no one else was there.

"Al, can I borrow your Invisibility cloak? Please?"

"What for?"

"Can you keep a secret?" She couldn't believe she was actually doing this.

"As long as it doesn't involve anyone dying!" he joked

"Too bad then!" She laughed, trying to gain some time to build up the confidence requested to make her lie believable.

"You want to kill someone?" Albus asked, his eyes getting bigger.

"I'm joking, relax."

"So what is it then?"

"I need the cloak to meet up with James without being seen."

"Why? Is he that bad looking?" chuckled Albus

"No…"

"Then why?"

"We don't want anyone seeing us, we want to be left alone and…"

"By Merlin's beard! You guys are secretly dating!"

"Don't scream like that! We want to keep it secret!" she said as she restrained her astonishment on how easy it had been to convince Albus that her lie was true.

"But why?"

"Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch Captains dating, how does that sound?" she made up on the spot as an excuse.

"It would look kind of weird…I agree."

"So can you lend it to me?" she asked with begging eyes

"Fine."

"And don't tell anyone. Not even Jen, nor Lily, nor Scorpius and certainly not Anakin."

"Don't worry. Here you go. Good luck!"

She pulled the cloak on and had no trouble at all getting out of the common room since someone had left the door ajar.

She went into the corridor, James was waiting for her. She waited for him to react but then realized that he couldn't see her. She walked to his side and whispered in his ear.

"Boo!"

He jumped a little and she contained her laughter.

"What the hell? Black, why would you do that?"

"I thought it would be funny," she admitted

"So childish of you…"

"Coming from you that doesn't mean anything."

"Ready for our date?"

"Stop calling it that. It's not a date."

"Two people meeting up alone is most definitely a date."

"Are you coming under the cloak or are you going to walk alone in the hallway like an idiot."

"I'm coming under it, the goal is not to be seen."

"I know that! So, are you coming?"

She raised the cloak and he slipped under it. She immediately felt James' body heat as he stood close to her.

"-Can we start walking?" she asked

"Let's go!"

They walked to the moving staircases. As they were going up one of the steps disappeared and Padme almost fell. James caught her, putting a hand on her hips.

"You ok? You realize the goal is to not be noticed? If you would've tripped, that would have made a loud noise and we would have been spotted. I not only saved you, but I also saved our mission."

Padme steadied herself and then realised James' hand was still on her hip.

"Thanks. You can take off your hand now…"

"Oh…right."

They arrived at the bathroom and took off the cloak. Padme opened the Chamber of Secrets like she had done the night before.

"Thanks for coming with me by the way," she said, feeling strangely grateful

"No problem, I never say no to a little mischief!"

"Finding out if you're related to Voldemort or not is not considered as mischief."

They slid down to the Chamber and Padme warned the basilisk to close its eyes.

" _Hi! How are you?"_ Padme asked

" _Much better! The nice elf has been bringing me food!"_

" _Good! I have a question for you now, if you don't mind answering."_

" _What is it?"_

" _Am I related to Salazar Slytherin?"_

" _Yes."_

" _Ok. Do you know who Voldemort is?"_

"I heard Voldemort!" James proudly said

"Shut it!"

" _Yes."_

" _Am I related to him?"_ Padme was terribly afraid of the answer, but she had already guessed it.

" _Yes."_

" _Do you know how?"_

" _He is your great grandfather."_

" _Voldemort had a child?"_ Her curiosity got the better of her fear and she wanted to discover more about Voldemort's unknown side.

" _Yes."_

" _Please explain more."_

" _He wanted an apprentice just like him, so he bewitched one of his servants so she would give him a child. He gave her a love potion. She had a child, a girl, however, she was born a Squib. He then attempted to kill her but her mother hid her in a Muggle family so she would be safe. Voldemort never found her. That child was your grandmother."_

" _How…how do you know all of this?"_ she asked completely bewildered

" _It is the duty of the basilisk to know all of this."_

" _So you just…know it?"_

" _Yes."_

" _Ok, Ok. Can you get us out of here? On your back, please?"_ Padme no longer wanted to stay in the Chamber, it reminded her too much of her powerful and evil great-grandfather for the moment.

" _Kreacher found an easier way."_

" _Where is it?"_

" _There are some stairs at the back of the Chamber."_

" _Where do they lead?"_

" _To the inside of the Room of Requirements. However, you cannot use it if the Room is already occupied."_

" _Thank you. We'll go check it out_. Come on, Potter!"

They made their way to the back of the Chamber and found that the staircase. They climbed up and found that luckily the Room of requirements was empty. They exited by what looked like a broom cupboard, made their way to the seventh floor hallway, pulling the cloak back on.

"So, what did it say?" James asked even though he had guessed the answer from the look on Padme's face.

"I'm Voldemort's great-granddaughter! Isn't it magnificent to learn that you are related to the worst wizard of all times?" Padme said sarcastically

"What does it change?"

"Doesn't it change the way you think about be? Aren't you freaked out by the Dark Lord's offspring? I can control a freaking basilisk! I have the same blood as Voldemort in my veins, the same malice, and you out of all people should understand the importance of blood after your father's resuscitated Him! How can you not want to get away from of me? Even I am terrified of myself!" She was almost yelling but she didn't realize it.

"Wow. Ok. Breathe," he took her wrist and found her eyes. He starred at her to let he know that it she needed to calm down.

She calmed down. She starred back into his light brown eyes and realized that he wasn't scared at all. She could feel the heat of his body so close to hers and could almost hear her heart stamping.

"Better now?" James asked

She nodded.

"You shouldn't freak out about this. Sure, blood is powerful, but that doesn't mean you're evil, it only means you are capable of great things. If those things are bad or good, only you can decide. You have an insanely smart mind of your own and I don't think you'll ever make the same mistakes as He did."

James was right, Padme thought. She was getting overwhelmed for no reason. Sure, being related to the Dark Lord wasn't something to rejoice about, but it wasn't that bad, it wasn't as if he were still alive and trying to kill her or something. She continued starring into James eyes and finally relaxed.

Noticing that she was done freaking out, James smiled.

"By the way, you are the last person I would ever want to get away from, related to Voldemort or not," he whispered

He slowly supressed the space between them and kissed her. Padme was startled but quickly started kissing him back. He slid one of his hands to her waist and the other one cupped her face. She let her hands glide on his chest, letting one hand rest at the back of his neck and the other in his soft hair. She kissed him harder and he replied with more intensity. They both felt their hearts beat increasingly fast and the touch of the other made their skin tingle. The cloak slipped but they barely noticed, the only thing that mattered to them right now was the touch of each other.

"Potter! Black!" someone yelled

They quickly but reluctantly broke apart, starring back at Headmistress McGonagall.

"What are you doing out of bed?"

"What did it look like we were doing?" James asked, sounding slightly frustrated

The Headmistress did not look pleased with this answer.

"It's only ten thirty," Padme added hopefully to make it look better

"You both should be inside your respective common rooms after nine! Secretly meeting up to do I don't want to know what with Mister Potter does not exclude you from this rule, Miss Black!"

"But Professor…" Padme started

"I will be forced to take points off both Gryffindor and Slytherin!"

"But we can explain!" James said

"I am no fool James Potter! I understand perfectly why you were here. It is obvious that you and Miss Black cannot meet in public to do your, well…business because you are supposed to be rivals but that is not an excuse for being out at this time! Same rules apply for everyone, whatever the reason, even if it's a really good one."

She looked at them with an odd smile.

"Oh, fine! You get away with it this time but it will not happen again. Have I made myself clear?"

"Oh thank you!" Padme gasped

"Please don't tell anyone," asked James

"Tell them what?" she asked smiling widely

She walked away, glancing over her shoulder every now and then making sure they were heading back to their common rooms.

James and Padme put the cloak back on and slowly started walking.

"So about what happened…"James said

"I shouldn't have kissed you back," said Padme

"Why?"

"Because it's going to bring problems…"

"What are you talking about?"

"First of all, it's obvious we can't be together because we're in Gryffindor and Slytherin."

"But no one cares anymore! The Gryffindor vs Slytherin hatred is over now!"

"You may think it's over but it's not. Most of the kids are ok with it but I know some of them aren't and their parents still deeply hate the other house."

"Fine. We keep it a secret."

"But that's just one of the reasons! Think about it, Voldemort's Heir and Harry Potter's son…That's no coincidence. Something terrible is bound to happen…"

"But it felt so right!"

"I know but…" she said weakly

"You're right, something terrible is bound to happen if we stop seeing each other! I don't know if you understand but I don't think I can stop this right now."

"Why not?"

-I've dated many girls and some of them for no more than a couple of weeks, but that's because I didn't know back then what I wanted. They were pretty, funny, smart but it never felt right. You're the one who feels right to me because you're not only pretty, funny and smart, you're attractive! Everything about you, makes me want to spend more time with you! The way you smile, the way you mess around, the way you love that gigantic monster you call a pet! You're special and I can't stay away from you, don't you get it?"

"I…I don't know what to say…I…" she threw her hands around his neck and started kissing him. She realised she had been feeling the same way about James but was just too scared to admit it.

"I can't stay away from you either," she whispered is his ear as she rested her face in the hollow of his neck.

"Sometimes actions speak more loudly than words," James answered with a smile, running his fingers through her long dark brown hair.

"You're very attractive too, you know that, right?" Padme added, grinning

"If I wasn't, you wouldn't be kissing me like you just did," James answered, laughing

"Ha-ha, very funny."

"We should head back to our dorms now."

"You're right."

They walked all the way back to the Slytherin common room and Padme took the cloak. She was about to open the door when James asked:

"How about a good night kiss?"

"Before that, do we keep this a secret?"

"I don't know, what do you think?"

"I think we should keep it secret for now…" she answered truthfully

"All of it?"

"I think Al, Lily and especially Anakin deserve to know about the whole Voldemort thing, but for us, I think we should keep that quiet for now."

"But Al already knows…" said James

"Oh yeah, turns out we didn't even lie!" she laughed

"How about that kiss?" said James, raising an eyebrow.

She pecked him on the cheek and left, smiling at the stunned look on James' face.

"That's it?" he asked.

She closed the door behind her, a wide smile spreading across her face. They both knew she wanted that kiss just as much as James did. However, it was definitely more fun having James wait until their next meeting.


	6. FIVE

FIVE

Padme woke up the next morning feeling absolutely great. She had kissed James Potter. Not only was he handsomely hot and very talented at Quidditch, he also was smart and funny, but that wasn't the main reason why she liked him so much. What she truly liked about James was that he had that glint of mischief and adventure in his eyes and a smile that always reassured her. She could've told him that the night before, however she just didn't know how. What she did know for sure is that Jen would never forgive her if she didn't tell her about James and her.

She trotted down to the common room and found Jen and Al eating bagels and discussing about muggle candy.

"Hey!" Padme said joyfully

"Someone's happy this morning!" said Jennifer

"Wonder why…" added Al with a suspicious smile

Padme stuck her tongue out at him.

"Is there something I am not aware of here?" asked Jennifer, slightly confused

"Do you mind leaving us for maybe five minutes, Al?" asked Padme

"Sure, no problem!" he said winking

"What's up?" Jen asked

"You're my best friend, and I feel it wouldn't be right keeping anything from you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone about this. Don't even discuss it with Al. Ok?"

"Ok…So, what's up?"

"I made out with James Potter last night," Padme blatted out

"That's it?"

"What do you mean that's it? Aren't you the least bit surprised?"

"To be honest, not really. Once you decide to tell everyone, I'll even owe Scorpius 5 knuckles. I thought it would take you guys longer."

"How?"

"Well, knowing you I thought it would take more time, I guess, I don't really know actually."

"No! How did you know about me and James?"

"Oh! Well that's way easier! First of all, you just can't stop yourself from smiling in some kind of way when he's there. You have that look in your eyes when he makes you laugh, it's quite obvious. Him, he almost glows when you're there. But if you didn't notice all of that, you two just complement each other. You have matching auras!" explained Jennifer with excitement in her voice. It was obvious she had studied the situation.

"He glows?" asked Padme, confused

"I didn't know how to say it, it's the best I could find!" Jen tried explaining

"So everyone knows already?"

"More or less…mostly more."

"I have something to do." Decided Padme

"What is it?"

"Follow me, you'll see," Padme answered with a giggle.

They almost ran to the dining hall and stopped at the entrance. Padme scanned the room with her eyes.

"What are you looking for? I'd at least appreciate having something close to a hint here!" said Jennifer

"Found him!"

"By Merlin's beard, you're looking for James!"

"Watch this, I'm feeling very dauntless this morning."

"Don't worry, I'll have my eyes wide open."

Padme made her way to where James was seated with a couple of his Gryffindor friends and sat next to him.

"Hey Potter!" she said joyfully

"Good morning, Black!" he answered, grinning

"Want to kiss me?"

"Right now?" he asked bewildered

"Apparently everybody already knows about us being a thing so, yes!"

"This is starting out as a glorious day!"

He pulled her closer to him and pressed his lips on hers. Tasting his divine lips, Padme let her hands play through his messy hair while James' muscular hands rubbed her back. Every single one of James' friends was flabbergasted, starring at them, and soon, the whole hall joined them. Among them, Jennifer was almost laughing her head off, completely stunned by what her best friend had just did.

They both laughed as they parted.

"What the hell mate?" asked Sean Finnegan

"When did _that_ happen?" added Jeremiah Brown

"That's none of your business," he answered with a smile, holding Padme's hand.

"Don't mean to burst you bubble, mate, but isn't it going to be problematic when you play Quidditch against each other?" Sean asked

"Quidditch is Quidditch, whoever wins won't change anything," Padme answered

"Are you sure your Captain will agree with that, Black?" asked Jeremiah

"Slytherin's Quidditch Captain is more than thrilled to agree with that, and by Slytherin's Quidditch Captain I mean me," she replied with a smirk

"I totally knew it!" yelled Sean, "It was either you or Zabini, but you're more charismatic so my bets were on you."

"Thank you, I guess," she answered

At that moment, Jennifer joined them and sat next to Padme.

"Walker! What a beautiful surprise!" said Sean

"Finnegan, hi," Jen replied

"Do you want to go out with me?" suddenly asked Sean

"Excuse me?" she answered, confused

"Well, I figured since James and Black were dating, I could totally go for a Slytherin girl as well!"

"You're an idiot," Padme told him

"Come on, Jennifer, I'm super good looking, I rock at Quidditch and I'm hilarious. Ask James, he'll totally agree with me!"

"You're not actually considering it?" Padme asked starring with her eyes wide open at Jennifer

"Well…"

"Let's go, Jen, we have to find my brother. Bye James, see you later. Finnegan, Brown," Padme said as she stood up and almost dragged Jennifer away

"Bye Padme," James answered

"Talk to you in Divination, Walker!" yelled Sean

The two girls walked up to where Anakin and his friend Josh were sitting.

"That was quite interesting what you did there, my dear sister," Anakin started

"Interesting?" she asked

"I can't believe you didn't tell me you were dating Potter…"

"It was supposed to be a secret until this morning," Jennifer explained

"But apparently, everyone already had suspicions!" Padme added

"True," nodded Anakin

"I have something important to tell you and I think we should do it somewhere a bit more private," Padme started

"Let's go to the common room! Come on, Josh!"

"No. I'm sorry Josh but this is between Anakin and me. You understand that Anakin? So no blabbing about it to everyone."

"I'm fine with that," Josh said, "I bet it's family business!"

"Sadly, it is," Padme answered

The three of them left, leaving Josh to talk to a Ravenclaw girl and her friend.

They entered the common room, went into a corner and made sure no one was there.

"Is it ok if I'm here?" asked Jen

"Oh please, the amount of time you spend with us definitely makes you family," Anakin answered

"Please don't freak out, both of you…" whispered Padme

"Did something happen to mom and dad?" Anakin asked nervously

"I told you no freaking out! And no, nothing happened to them!" Padme answered sharply

"So what then?" Jen asked

"Anakin and I are possibly…maybe…slightly related to Voldemort…."

"What? How?" They both asked

"Apparently, Voldemort had a Squib child that he could never find since she was placed in a family of Muggles. That child turned out to be our grandmother! Then, she had mom, who always thought she was Muggle-born but in fact wasn't! That's why we can control the basilisk!"

"Wow…"gasped Jennifer

"I can't believe it," said Anakin

"Well, it's true."

"Is that a bad thing?" Jen asked

"I don't really know," answered Padme, honestly

"Wait…does Potter know this?" Anakin asked suspiciously

"He in fact does…"

"That's what you two were doing last night! You went to the Chamber of Secrets! Al told me something about a secret date, it's obvious you wouldn't go on a date at a time like that, he's so gullible!"

"Al told you about that?" Padme asked, feeling slightly betrayed

"Al doesn't know how to keep a secret for his life!" Anakin laughed

"That's why I don't know if we should tell him about us being family and all with the Dark Lord…"

"What about Lily?" Anakin asked

"I…" started Padme

"I know it might not be the best idea but let me suggest this: you should tell both Lily and Al since James already knows. It's only fair. Al was our friend way before James, and Lily is our friend as well," said Jen

"I think you're right," Anakin said

"I guess so…" said Padme

They decided on meeting up with Al and Lily close to the lake, after the Quidditch match of the next day to tell them the whole story.

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter characters, settings, etc. they belong to J. . The names Padme, Anakin and Jennifer Walker are inspired by George Lucas' Star Wars.**


	7. SIX

SIX

"You nervous?" Al asked his sister

"Please, I think I can catch the snitch faster than that silly Hufflepuff girl!" Lily answered

"You better!" James said as he sat down next to her and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"At least you can win against Hufflepuff because I truly doubt you'll be able to beat Slytherin," Padme said, laughing

"What are you and Al even doing here?" James asked

"They're here for moral support!" answered Lily cheerfully

"You call that moral support?" James said

"I'm a Quidditch player, not a cheerleader," Padme reminded James, "Al's the cheerleader here! All he's missing is a skirt and some pompoms!" she joked

"Hey! I'm a Quidditch player too!" said Al, pretending to get offended

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, now please let me focus," James demanded

He always wanted to picture all of the game in his head before it started. He had to predict the other team's moves before they made them and it required a lot of concentration.

"Padme, if you stay here, I'll start thinking it's a strategy to distract me so Hufflepuff wins and Gryffindor is lower in rankings. Please leave and bring Al with you!"

"Bloody hell! What's wrong with you?" Lily asked, eyebrows raised and eyes wide open, "How is that a way to talk to your new girlfriend? Won't be long and she'll be dumping you!"

"I really need to concentrate! I'm sorry, Padme but I have to plan the game in my head and I can't do that while you're here! I'll be a completely honest with you, the only reason I can think about the game with you here is that I'm only thinking about you and-"

"James," Padme smiled, "it's completely fine. I totally understand, don't worry about it. Come on, Al. Good luck, both of you!"

She knew how Quidditch was important to him and thought that fooling around could be done elsewhere.

Both Padme and Al made their way back to the dorms to pick up Jen before the game started. Quickly stopping to say hi to the basilisk, they hurried back to meet her.

"Ready?" Al asked

"Yeah, just a second," Jennifer answered

"We gave you 45 minutes when we left and you're still not ready!" Padme said

"I was curling my hair," answered Jen

"How long does it even take?" asked Al

"That's not the question," Padme said, "the question is why the bloody hell were you curling your hair to watch a Quidditch game?"

"I wanted to look pretty!" Jen replied as if the answer was obvious

"You look pretty without your hair curled," said Al, "Even then, again, why would you want to look pretty for a Quidditch game?"

"By Merlin's hat, you want to look pretty because you're going to see Sean!" yelled Padme, outraged

"Sean Finnegan?!" asked Al, bewildered

"He asked me if I wanted to hang out with him after the game…"

"How could you even want to go out with him? He's a total idiot!" started Padme

"He is not an idiot! He may not be an O student but he's really nice, funny and very good looking! He's really sweet and I don't know why you're making a big deal out of this! Not everyone needs to date someone as smart as you or as James to be happy!" yelled Jen

"Al! Help me up, here!" asked Padme

"No! Help ME up!" demanded Jennifer

"First of all, I am smart enough not to get involved in this and second of all, I think we're going to be late so we might as well finish this now and head to the Quidditch field!"

"I agree with Al!" said Padme

"Of course! Just dodge this confrontation!" said Jen waving her hands over her head.

She took her bag and left without a glance back, determined to go to the game without them.

"Should I go after her?" asked Padme, feeling slightly remorseful

"I think it would be best if you just let her simmer down for a while," answered Al

"Maybe you're right…"

"Want to go watch the game?" Al suggested

"Yeah."

They were jogging through the halls to make it on time to the Quidditch field when something peculiar caught their attention. Headmistress McGonagall was humming to herself walking towards the Quidditch field.

They slowed down and Al whispered:

"I never heard her humming before," he said

"Me neither," agreed Padme

"What about the fact that she's going to be late to the game?"

"It's true! That never happened before too!"

"Maybe something happened!" Al whispered

"Professor McGonagall!" Padme cried out

The woman clad in green turned around, smiling.

"What is it dear child?" she asked

"Is everything ok?" Al asked

"Yes, never been better!" she answered with an even broader smile

"Aren't you going to be late to the game?" Padme asked

"There's nothing wrong with being fashionably late, is there?" said McGonagall

"No, no there's not anything wrong with that…"replied Padme

"Well, goodbye children," said McGonagall as she continued walking at a quicker pace.

As she left Padme whispered:

"That was odd."

"My suspicions are confirmed. Never have I ever heard Professor McGonagall talk like that," said Al

"I think we should tell Scorp and Jen about this, oh wait, Jen no longer wishes to talk to me!"

"Don't worry about it! It'll be solved in a couple of days, not even!"

"I sure hope so…"

They arrived at the Quidditch game late and were forced to sit on the bleachers at the complete back, making it very hard for them to see.

"I can't see anything!" yelled Padme in frustration

"At least we're not in the Gryffindor compartment, sitting behind Hagrid!" laughed Al

"But I really wanted to watch them play! I have to learn what kind of strategies they're using!"

Albus shook his head at his friend's comment as they obviously couldn't do anything about it.

Albus still enjoyed the game, even if Padme kept complaining, as Gryffindor won since his sister caught the Snitch. They both got down the platform and waited for James and Lily near the changing rooms. Soon enough, Jen joined them, waiting for Sean.

"I should've known you were going to be here," she started

"Jen, I'm sorry," apologized Padme

"For what?" asked Jen with fury in her eyes.

"I'm dreadfully sorry for not being happy for you when you were obviously excited about going out with Finnegan."

"And?"

"I'm sorry for yelling at you."

-And?

"Er…sorry for…er…I have no clue," she admitted

"Calling someone an idiot, maybe?"

"I'm sorry for calling Finnegan stupid," finally apologized Padme, "Can you please forgive me?"

"Of course!" smiled Jen

Both girls ran into each other's arms and laughed.

"I hate being angry at you," admitted Jen

"I hate it when we fight too, I love you," giggled Padme.

"I love you too," laughed Jen

"Well, I better tell James his girlfriend is cheating on him!" yelled Sean's voice

"Very funny, Finnegan," said Padme

"Do you still want to go on our date, Jennifer?" he asked, smiling

"Of course! Let's go!" answered Jen, smiling as well

"Did I forget to mention you look very pretty?" Sean said as they walked away

"You don't like him, do you?" Padme asked Al as she saw his disgusted face

"No, I do not," he admitted

"He's not that bad…"

"You're the one who made a scene about it!" Al said

"I wasn't thinking straight. To get angry for such a foolish reason, that was very stupid of me."

"Ooh! Black saying she's stupid! That's something you don't hear every day!" exclaimed James as he came out of the changing room.

"Shut up!" Padme said

"Good job on winning!" congratulated Al

"Thanks mate," answered James

"Where's Lily?" Padme asked

"She thinks I didn't see her sneak out to go meet up with your brother. She'll hear about it later, anyway what are you guys up to?"

"We wanted to talk to you about Professor McGonagall," started Al

"What about her?" asked James

"She's been acting weird lately. I think we should hold a council meeting about it," said Padme

"Wow! Last time we held a council meeting was when we decided if it was ok for Scorpius and Rose to date. This can't be nearly as important as that nasty little Malfoy!"

"That's my best friend you're talking about!" said Al

"And I truly don't care," admitted James, "now about that council…"

"Tomorrow. Room of Requirements, right after dinner. Password is _basilisk_ , what do you think James?" said Al

"That's almost as stupid as _Respect_ …"


	8. SEVEN

SEVEN

The Room of Requirements was set for the council. Chairs were set up in a circle, around a table for all the members to take place. They used to hold it in an empty classroom but now that they had found out that they all knew about this secret room, they agreed to hold it there. When Padme was in her third year at Hogwarts Scorpius, Albus, Rose, Jen, James and her had decided to make a group so they could hold a council when important business was to be discussed. Anakin, Lily and Hugo had later on been allowed to participate in the councils in the beginning of their second year.

"Is everyone here?" asked Rose

"Anakin's missing," answered Padme, "we should start without him."

"I'm here! No worries!" cried Anakin as he entered the room

"Do you always have to be late?" asked Scorpius

"No, but I truly enjoy making others wait," replied Anakin with a smirk

"Let's start the council," suggested Jennifer

"We are here to discuss the odd behaviour of Professor McGonagall and what there is to do about it. Al, please share your observations," asked Rose

"Lately, I noticed Professor McGonagall walking around school smiling, that woman never smiles," said Al

"She started calling us children too," added Hugo

"And she smells weird!" added Lily

"Lily? What does that have to do with anything?" asked Rose

"Maybe she changed perfumes?" suggested Scorpius

"Did she even wear perfume before? I don't think so!" said Lily

"Anything else that changed about McGonagall's behaviour?" asked Rose

Padme and James glanced at each other. They weren't sure if they should be sharing that information. Padme finally nodded and James spoke:

"When…er…Padme and I were…well…kissing in the hallway after curfew, McGonagall let us go with just a warning. It's not like her to do that."

"It's true," nodded Scorpius, "she would have at least taken off points from your houses and given you detention. She's usually really hard on you Potters for some reason."

"Yeah, well we don't need your sympathy, Malfoy," sneered James

"It's just a fact," Scorpius said, "please let us move on now, Rose."

Rose had been picked to lead the discussions since she wasn't incline to yelling and was friend with everyone on the council. Padme thought it was foolish however to do this in a weird civilized manner. She thought it was a true waste of time, yet for some reason everyone else called it "harmony".

"Ok, now that we've established that she's definitely acting different…"

"And smelling different," cried Lily

"Yes, acting and smelling different we have to figure out what we're going to do about her. Any suggestions?"

"We kidnap her and interrogate her!" suggested Anakin

"We can't kidnap the Headmistress! Are you crazy?" yelled Scorpius

"Yeah, that's definitely a no," added Al

"Where does your brother even get his ideas?" James whispered to Padme

"You'd be surprised," she answered

"We could always spy on her," suggested Jennifer

"I like that!" said Hugo

"Me too!" agreed Padme

"But how are we going to do that?" demanded Rose

"I'm sure uncle George would love to send us a couple of wizard wheezes if we asked kindly," said Lily

"So smart Lily!" said James

"But we have to be very subtle," Padme advised

"That's what spying involves!" replied James

"I think we should appoint spies so that not all of us are spying on her at the same time," suggested Scorpius

"How many?" asked Jennifer

"How about four? Two teams of two," said Padme

"Sounds good," agreed Rose

"Who is it going to be?" asked Hugo

"I think it should be one person from each family," said Rose

"Well, what about Jen and Scorp? That's already two!" said Hugo

"Jen can count as part of our family," said Anakin

"I think Jen and Scorpius should be part of the same family because they're both blond!" said Lily

"That actually makes sense," agreed James

"How does that make any sense?" asked Jen

"Not the hair color part, but you and Malfoy as the same family. You guys are both a minority because you don't have any siblings so you can be a new family," explained James

"Fair enough," acknowledged Scorpius, "What do you think Jen?"

"That works for me."

"Good, so each family should choose a spy", said Rose

"That only makes three spies, Rose," noticed Al

"Potter-Weasley clan can have two," suggested Padme

"We're fine with that," said Scorpius and Jen

"Let's choose spies!" exclaimed Hugo.

Anakin was chosen as the spy for the Black family as Padme had no envy to follow Professor McGonagall at all. Scorpius was also picked since Jen was terrible at being quiet. Albus and Lily were picked on the other side because Rose did not want to get in trouble and Hugo tended to get lost easily. James simply couldn't manage to spare time with Quidditch and school busying his life.

"What about teams?" asked Padme

"Scorp and Al, Lily and me," suggested Anakin with a wide smile crossing his features

"No way!" interfered James

"Why not?" asked Lily

"You know why!" yelled James

"No I don't! Why do you not want me hanging out with him, James?" asked Lily, taunting him.

They all knew this fight was bound to happen and apparently it had decided to happen now.

"I don't want him putting his filthy hands on you! He's a terrible influence!"

"Watch what you're saying James!" yelled Padme

"By Merlin's beard! He's Voldemort's heir! Would you really want to be so close to him?" yelled James

"You do not get to play that card! You love Padme's company and she's just as much related to Voldemort as Ani!" cried Lily

"It's not the same thing!" James yelled, exasperation flowing out of him

"Stop it!" Padme screamed

James and Lily immediately stopped and starred at her.

"James, your sister is right. You absolutely have no right to use the fact that we are related to Voldemort as an argument! If you do, despite what you told me, it means you're afraid of us, of me! It's completely irrational what you're doing to Lily, stopping her from just even hanging out with my brother! I get it, you want to protect her, but I think my brother takes really good care of Lily despite the fact that their young, I think they should be able to enjoy each other's company without you always yelling or threatening one of them! I am sick of you picking on my brother like that or on Scorpius or even on Al, just because we're in Slytherin. The only reason you're not making mean comments about me is I don't know what but it is not longer valid. My brother and I are extremely similar whatever you may think, and if you don't like him, it means you don't like me! If Lily isn't allowed to date my brother, then I guess we can't be together anymore!"

They all starred at her in silence. She loved James but she couldn't handle it anymore. She wanted Lily and Anakin to have the same chance as her and she wanted Rose and Scorpius to finally be more open about their relationship without James going into a tantrum.

She looked at James and didn't know what to expect. Would he love her enough to not be mad at her or would he tell her that their relationship was over? She kept staring at him, her eyes watery from the frustration she had just lashed out on them. Finally, James spoke, but he was only able to mumble:

"I'm sorry…"

No one said anything. James spoke again with more vivacity this time:

"I'm a bloody idiot! You know what? I don't care if you date Anakin, Lily, because if he's just like Padme, then he's a really good guy. Padme, look at me! I never meant to hurt you and I never meant to be mean when I made fun of Al or Malfoy or anyone in Slytherin for that matter. I just act without thinking sometimes and it's not always good. Please, you have to forgive me. I wasn't thinking when I spoke of Voldemort and I swear it will not happen again."

She didn't move. James was exasperated.

"You want me to say it again? I'm a stupid idiot! I'm a bloody fool! I can't think for my life! Happy now?"

Padme smirked.

"You are an idiot, James Potter, but I like you anyway," she said

She opened her arms and he went to embrace her. He held her tight and closed his eyes until he heard Anakin saying:

"Well, now that this is settled!"

He turned to Lily and kissed her to the surprise of all.

James turned around and was about to say something but restrained himself. Instead, he turned to Padme and kissed her.

As they pulled away, they laughed at Hugo's disgusted face.

"Thank Merlin we didn't kiss as well," Rose told Scorpius

"Now, about the spies," Jen started awkwardly

"Teams will be Scorp and Al, Lily and Anakin," declared Rose

"I'll write to Uncle George!" suggested Hugo

"Great! I officially declare this council ended!" cried Rose

Gryffindors and Slytherins parted as they finally headed back to their dorms.


	9. EIGHT

EIGHT

It was a cold November morning and the air was crisp and fresh. Padme felt the cold air fill her lungs as she slowly walked to the Quidditch field with Scorpius. She breathed quickly and kept mumbling to herself her plan.

"Relax, would you?" said Scorpius

"I can't!" admitted Padme, "Ravenclaw is going to have a wicked strategy and we absolutely have to beat them at their own game or we'll be doomed."

"Let's be honest, that Cheng boy they have as a Seeker barely stands a chance against Al! You worry too much."

"They know that too, that's why they'll focus on something else. For sure, their Beaters are aiming for Al and I think they'll play a lot on the offense to score as many points as possible."

"Calm down. I never saw you stressed like that before a game…"

"I never was Captain before! If our team loses, it'll be my fault!"

"We trained, we're good. Stop worrying so much!"

"You better block all of those Quaffles coming at you Scorp or I'll be extremely angry."

"Did I ever let you down?"

"No."

"It won't happen today either!"

They met up with the rest of the team, save Anakin, in the changing room and Padme explained her plan. Half-way through Anakin showed up and she had to explain her plan all over again.

Madam Hooch whistled and the team got up.

"Let's win this!" Padme cheered

"Together!" the others responded

They all took their places and Padme went to shake the other Captain's hand. Madam Hooch whistled again, threw the Quaffle in the air and Leia Jordan started commenting.

Padme was able to grab the Quaffle and toss it to Jennifer before dodging a Bludger. She had Anakin to protect Al but Cole wasn't everything too well on his own. She glanced quickly at him before speeding to meet up with Jennifer and Zabini. They were tossing each other the Quaffle quickly, but every time a Ravenclaw Chaser came close to catching it. She sprinted on her broom and caught it in midair, flying towards the goal. Zabini and Jen immediately understood and followed close behind.

She aimed at the highest circle, however as the Keeper made his way up, she dropped the ball and Jen caught it beneath her and scored into one of the lower circles.

The game ended in thirty minutes as Al had caught the Snitch. The final score was a decent 190-30 for Slytherin. As they dismounted their brooms, the team could see on the bleachers above them, a mass of green and silver cheering loudly. They congratulated the other team and then each other as they made their way to the changing room. Padme and Jen we're singing while changing as Zabini and Anakin danced with their shirts wrapped around their heads like bandanas. Suddenly, Lily came in.

"Ani?" She entered the room and stop, bewildered. Anakin was shirtless (since his shirt was on his head) and taping his mouth with his hand making tribal noises. He immediately stopped at the sight of Lily and blushed furiously.

"Lily! What are you doing here?" asked Al

"I wanted to congratulate you but apparently I didn't pick the right time…"

"Thanks, that's really thoughtful of you!" said Padme, seeing her brother was apparently not responding

"I…I'll come back later…you look nice Ani, "she added chuckling

It caused Anakin to turn a shade redder. Everyone was containing their laughter as Lily left, leaving Anakin deeply embarrassed.

"Good job, mate! That was real smooth!" Scorpius laughed

"I can't believe you didn't say anything Ani!" giggled Jen

"You were just so red!" added his sister.

After a good laugh, they all went to the common room, where a party was being held.


	10. NINE

NINE

The first few snowflakes decorated Hogsmeade and made it sparkle under the sun. The last few week of November were almost over and Padme was walking towards the Three Broomsticks with her fellow Slytherins, Alexander Zabini and Simon Carter.

"Can we stop at Honeydukes after that?" asked Simon.

"Your parents send you sweets every single week. How can you possibly want more?" asked Padme.

"He's always eating, I bet he hasn't got any left!" laughed Alexander.

"Speaking of parents sending stuff, did you open your letter, Padme?" asked Simon

"No yet. I'm used to my mum sending Howlers only so a normal letter is a bit odd. I'll open it tonight with Ani," she answered.

"If by any chance there's food in there, feel free to share," added Simon.

"Have you seen the envelope? How could anyone fit food in there?" asked Alexander.

"Have you heard of MAGIC?" said Simon

Alexander was about to reply but was abruptly interrupted by Albus.

"Hey! Can I talk to you, Padme?" he asked.

"Yeah, of course. I'm sorry, see you guys later!" said Padme wondering what was happening. It looked like it was urgent.

"No problem! We'll go spy on Jen's date with Finnegan without you," laughed Alexander

"Can we still stop at Honeydukes?" Simon asked as they were leaving.

"What it is?" asked Padme.

"Come with me," said Al.

He dragged her inside the Three Broomsticks and sat down at a table with Rose and Scorpius. She did the same.

"Look at her," said Scorpius.

"Who's her?" asked Padme.

"McGonagall!" answered Rose as if the answer was so obvious.

"What about her?" asked Padme.

"She's drinking tea," said Al as if it explained everything.

"How is that abnormal?"

"Look at the way she's drinking it," said Rose

She was holding the teacup with her pinky raised and was sipping noisily with a weird smirk on her face.

"Her behaviour is really disturbing," admitted Padme.

"Any clue why?" asked Al.

"Not really," admitted Scorpius and Rose

"Wait, look," Padme whispered, motioning them to look at McGonagall.

"What is she pouring in her cup?" asked Al.

"If I knew I would've told you," said Padme.

"More milk maybe?" suggested Scorpius.

"Sugar?" suggested Rose.

"I don't think so," said Padme.

"Then, what could it be?" asked Rose.

"Well, I guess our spies are going to have some work to do!" said Padme.


	11. TEN

TEN

Padme was sitting next to her basilisk softly singing him a song she tried translating in Parseltongue.

" _Lavender's blue, dilly dilly, lavender's green when I am King, dilly dilly, you shall be Queen. Who told you so, dilly dilly, who told you so?"_

"' _Twas my own heart, dilly dilly that told me so,"_ finished Anakin.

"Remember when mum used to sing it to us?" asked Padme.

"Yeah and then dad would sing us something else," recalled Anakin.

"Do you still remember how it starts?" asked Padme.

" _Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me. We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot. Drink up me hearties, yo ho,"_ sang Anakin.

" _Aye, but we're loved by our mommies and dads. Drink up me hearties, yo ho. Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me_ ," finished Padme.

"That's how it ends," said Anakin.

"I don't remember anything else," admitted Padme.

"So what did you want to talk about?" asked Anakin.

"I got a letter from mum and dad this morning," she started.

"Did you read it?"

She nodded and handed him the letter so he could read it also.

"They want us to come on the ship for Christmas?" asked Anakin, bewildered.

"Yes," she said.

Anakin sat down on the ground beside his sister.

"What do you want to do?" asked Anakin.

"I don't really know," admitted Padme.

"Is it because of Jen?" asked Anakin.

Padme nodded.

"You haven't told her, have you?" said Anakin

"I told her they were merchants," said Padme, "that's what I told everyone."

"How is it a problem then? She'll find it believable that we meet up with them on a ship," said Anakin

"You don't understand. We spent every Christmas together ever since we met, she'll expect me to invite her on the ship as well. I can't leave her alone with her mother for Christmas but mum and dad won't want her to come with us on the ship!"

"It's true, I forgot her mum was a…yeah, I bet she'll be busy during Christmas time. Jen could always stay at school," suggested Anakin

"It's not nearly as fun as leaving and meeting up with your family."

"True."

"Should I tell her? Do you think she's going to be angry? I've been lying to her for six years while she's been completely honest with me and shared her worst secrets!"

"You know, she's like a sister to me too," said Anakin.

"So what do you think we should do?" asked Padme.

"I don't know," admitted Anakin.

"I think you should both tell her," said the basilisk.

"You do?" asked Padme surprised by her pet's intervention.

"I think your bond is strong enough for you to tell her. Keeping secrets is never good."

"I think our basilisk is right!" declared Anakin

"Me too!"

"I also think we should find you a name," said Anakin

"That's smart! How about…Alberto?" suggested Padme

"I like it! It suits a reptile!" said Anakin

"I like it too," said the basilisk

"Goodbye, Alberto! We'll follow your advice and talk to Jen!" Padme said

They went back up by the secret staircase and walked around school trying to find Jen. They found her sitting with Sean at a table in the Great Hall.

"Jen, can we talk in private, please?" asked Padme

"Of course, Black! Just steal Jennifer like that!" said Sean

"Oh please Finnegan, it's important!" said Anakin

"I'll come back," promised Jennifer

"Be quick," said Sean, blinking to Jennifer.

All three of them walked to an empty classroom and Padme put a spell so that no one could hear what they were saying.

"You better have a good reason to talk to me," started Jen.

"Oh, trust me, it's better than good," said Padme.

"I'm listening."

"Anakin, do you want to explain?" asked Padme.

"I think it would be best if you did it," he admitted.

"I just don't know how to say it…"

"Don't worry," reassured Jennifer.

"Promise you won't be mad?" asked Padme

"Is it about Sean?"

"No, absolutely not," answered Padme

"Good. I promise then."

"Our parents invited us to spend Christmas on their ship with them," started Padme.

"Oh, and you know I get seasick so you wanted to warn me," said Jen.

"No, that's not exactly it…"

"Then what is it?"

"By us, I meant Anakin and me…"

"Oh…but it's not like I never met your parents. They like me, no?"

"Jen, please let me finish. You met them on land, where they are nice and civilized people. It would be dangerous for you to go on the ship and neither Ani and I or our parents want to endanger your life."

"I can swim! I'll take something, I promise I won't be seasick! What can be that dangerous? Taxes?" she said almost laughing.

Padme wasn't laughing.

"That's not the problem. The problem is our parents aren't merchants, they're pirates and their ship is filled with thieves and treasures. They steal Muggle treasures, Wizard treasures, anything. The Ministry of Magic wants to imprison them in Azkaban! I didn't know how to tell you and if you'd still want to be friends with us even if we're liars and our parents are criminals! I'm ashamed, but at the same time, I love it every time I go on that stupid ship. Your my best friend and just like a sister and I never wanted you to find out but I realised I just had to tell you!"

Padme had blurted out everything as fast as she could to get it over with. Anakin looked tensely at Jennifer, waiting for her to react. Her eyes were wide open and she didn't speak for a moment.

Then she smiled and said:

"-If it can make you feel any better, my mum's a striper! She might not be a deadly thief but I'm not saying that what she's doing is right either!

"You're not angry, or traumatized?" asked Anakin, flabbergasted.

"I spent my childhood watching movies and reading at the back of a nightclub with no father and a mother who was barely there. When I first came here and met you, Padme, you were the closest thing I had to a family. With your aunt taking me in for most of the summer and the holidays with you guys, I don't know why I'd to be angry! I don't care what your parents are! I learnt you were both the Dark Lord's grandchildren and that didn't change in anyway my friendship with both of you, how could learning that your parents are pirates make things any different?"

"But what about us abandoning you for Christmas? We'd love to stay, but we haven't seen our parents in more than a year," admitted Padme

"I'll be fine. You guys have a family, might as well enjoy it!"

"So you don't mind?" asked Padme

"Not at all."

"You'll be spending Christmas with your mum…" said Anakin

"I could always stay here but I think it would be good for us to have a talk," Jen said

"You know your mum loves you, right?" said Padme

"Yeah, she just has an odd way of showing it."

"So all is good?" asked Padme

"Everything's perfect and don't worry, I'll keep it a secret."

"Thanks Jen," said Padme and Anakin.

 **I did not invent any of the songs, the first one is** _ **Lavender's Blue**_ **and it is a nursery rhyme, the second one is** _ **A Pirate's Life for Me**_ **from the Pirates Of The Caribbean. In fact, everything that has to do with pirates has been inspired by Disney's Pirates Of The Caribbean movies.**


	12. ELEVEN

ELEVEN

It was the last week before Christmas and it was dreadfully cold. Padme wore many layers under her Quidditch uniform even though it was already warm. She blew on her fingertips, not covered by her gloves, to warm them up before the game against Hufflepuff. She was pacing outside the changing room, anxious for her brother to get there.

Elliot opened the changing room door and motioned her in.

"Don't freeze yourself to death before the game even starts!"

"Anakin has to get here! He has to hear the plan!"

"You can wait for him inside!"

"Fine."

She went inside and sat down next to Al, nervously shaking her legs. Finally, just as everyone was getting really annoyed Anakin ran in.

"Sorry I was late, I had some Lily troubles. She wanted…"

"Save it!" snapped his sister

"You have to stop being late Anakin," warned Scorpius.

"Ok listen up, we have to play on the offense since I think Hufflepuff team has weaker Beaters so they won't be aiming too well. Al, catch the Snitch fast, please. We hate playing in this crappy weather. Let's win this!"

"Together!"

The game did not go as well as planned. Hufflepuff had scored 90 points while they only had thirty. Padme called for a time out.

The team flew down and landed in a tight circle. Padme spoke:

"I underestimated their Beaters because I hadn't seen them play properly." She glanced at Al quickly before turning her eyes to her brother.

"What on Merlin's hat do you think you're doing? Your aim is terrible and you hit the Bludgers with barely any strength!"

"I'm sorry," apologized Anakin.

"Don't be bloody sorry, be competent! And Al, catching the bloody Snitch now would be a good idea. What have you been doing? Their Seeker is not even bloody close to being nearly as good as you and she almost caught it!"

"I can't see so well with all this snow, I'm sorry," apologized Al.

"Scorpius you better start blocking those bloody Quaffles or…"

"Calm down with your bloody this and bloody that and screaming at everyone!" yelled Jen.

Padme was so cold, exhausted and desperate to win she didn't realise she was screaming.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what happened," she apologized.

"No worries," said Elliot

"We know you want to win," said Al

"Give it your all! I know we can beat those silly badgers!" yelled Padme

"Yeah!" cried the team

"Let's win this!"

"Together!"

As soon as the game restarted everything went for the best. Hufflepuff only scored twice as they scored three time. Finally, Albus caught the Snitch, ending the game 210-110.

They all hurried back inside and quickly took off their damp clothes to put on warm ones.

"Good job to all of you," congratulated Padme.

"Good job to you too, Captain," said Alexander Cole.

"Thanks," replied Padme.

"Only Gryffindor to beat now!" said Anakin.

"That's easier said than done," admitted Elliot.

"Practice on Friday. Don't forget. Anakin, be there on time," warned Padme.

"I'll try!"

Shivering, Padme quickly dressed up with Jen on the other side of the room while the boys used the other. As she was finally putting on her boots, someone knocked on the door.

"Padme?" called James

"I'm coming!"

She quickly put her coat on and went outside, braving the cold.

"Can we quickly get back to the castle and then talk?" she asked James

"I brought warm butterbeer! Thought it would warm you up! You can drink it on the way back, James said opening up a bottle of fuming liquid."

"Thank you," she said kissing him softly on the cheek

"Aren't you wondering where I got it?"

"You got Kreacher to bring it to you," she guessed.

"What are you doing for Christmas?" asked James

"I'm going back home and then I'm going to see my parents," she answered.

"Home and your parents aren't at the same place?"

"I live with my aunt most of the time, my parents are merchants, and they live on their ship. What are you doing?"

"I'm spending Christmas at my grandparents' house with all my cousins!"

"Sounds fun," she said.

"Can I ask you something? "

"Of course, she answered curious to see what his question would be."

"Can we meet up maybe tomorrow night?" asked James.

"If I'm done packing, sure," she laughed.

"Good. I'll meet you up at your common room at eight. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good, see you then."

Padme was slightly tired from the eve's party but still woke up early. She was eager to finish it up with those two last days of school before the Holidays. She joined Anakin and Lily who were already having breakfast in the Great Hall.

"Good morning!" she said.

"You're up early!" said Lily.

"You too!" said Padme.

"We wanted to discuss McGonagall. We still haven't figured out what was wrong with her," said Anakin.

"I think she might be sick," said Lily.

"Yeah, she's been drinking a lot of tea lately and she often drinks some other weird liquid that she pours into a cup. It might be medicine," said Anakin.

"I think there's something more to it than that. It can't only be that she's sick," said Padme.

"Then what?" asked Lily.

"I have no clue yet," admitted Padme.

"Abruptly changing topics here, would you like to visit Alberto before leaving?" asked Anakin to Padme.

"Yeah, let's go at lunch time," Padme answered

"Who's Alberto?" asked Lily.

"Basilisk," whispered Anakin.

"That's a really ugly name," said Lily.

"We don't care," said Anakin.

"That's what we named him," added Padme.

"It's your pet, not mine!"

The two siblings visited the basilisk for half an hour at lunch and made sure he would be safe for their two weeks of departure. After that, they both discussed what they should be bringing on the ship before going back to their classes.

The end of the day came quickly and Padme soon found herself packing in her room with Jennifer.

"I wrote to my mum," said Jennifer.

"You told her you were spending Christmas time with her?" asked Padme.

"Yeah. She said she was excited to see me and was going to take a break for a week so we could do girl stuff together. I think it's actually a good thing I spend the Holidays with her, this year. I never thought I'd say this but I miss her."

"I'm glad for you," said Padme with a smile.

"It's eight, I think Potter's waiting for you outside. You'd better go."

"Are you seeing Sean before leaving?" asked Padme.

"We ate lunch together today, but I'm not going to meet up with him secretly at night like James and you do all the time. It's kind of your thing," laughed Jennifer.

"I'll see you when I get back!"

"Have fun!"

As she opened the door to exit the dormitory, she saw James leaning on the wall in front of her, both hands in his pockets.

"Anakin isn't the only one who's often late," joked James.

"I had to finish packing," explained Padme.

"Don't worry about it," said James.

"So, where do you want to go?" she asked.

"I'll show you," he whispered.

He took her hands and guided her through many hallways until he found what he was looking for. It was a small room on the topmost floor. The door was locked but it had been the first time he had discovered this room with Al and Lily as they were running away from Finch.

"Alohomora!" he whispered as the door unlocked.

They both walked in and shut the door behind them. The room was beautiful but small. It had windows on either sides and a small bench it the middle. They both sat on it and admired the stars from the windows.

"Is that what you wanted to do tonight? Show me this room?" asked Padme.

"Yes, but there's something else. I have a gift for you," said James

"Wow! Thank you! I…I don't have anything for you, I never thought you'd be giving me a gift so…"

"Don't worry," he whispered.

She stopped and stared at him. His eyes were perfect and they almost reflected the moon. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a locket.

"I wanted you to have this," he said as he handed her a pierced locket, "It's an heirloom of your family."

She looked at him completely bewildered, not knowing if he was serious. She saw the snake on the locket. How could he possibly think she would appreciate such a thing? And how did he get it?

"I know what you're thinking. I know you don't want it and you're almost scared of it, but listen to me. I think you should have this because it will remind you of who you are. It was an evil thing once, but now the evil is gone from it and I want you to have it so that it can be good again. I want you to feel like the real heir of Slytherin but not feel like you're bad. You'll make Slytherin house not only a great house, but a good house as well. You're brave, smart, cunning, kind, you fit all of the houses and yet are only a Slytherin, so I think you should make your house all of those things. You can't be afraid of who you are anymore."

Padme kept staring at him. She was terrified of who she was and James was right, by accepting this locket she would embrace her origins and let go of her fears. She whispered:

"You really meant everything you said?"

"Every single word," James said.

She opened her hand and he gave her the locket. She didn't dare put it on yet, but put it in one of her tight jeans pockets. Only one question was left unanswered:

"How did you get it?" she asked.

"I wrote to my dad explaining, well…explaining you and I told him about the whole Slytherin heir thing and he sent me the locket. He said it was rightfully yours. But I don't think you should have it because it belongs to your family, I think you should have it so you'll remember that you are your own person and you have your own power. Does that make sense?" he finally asked, smiling shyly.

"It does. Thanks for helping me with my weird family issues. You really know what to say to make me feel better."

"I'm always there when you need me," he said smiling

She was nervous but knew what she was dying to do. She wanted to show him that he really was important to her and that she was incredibly grateful for him helping her with all her fears. She was lucky to have him.

"James, I never got the chance to tell you this, but I wanted to thank you because you're not only an amazing person, you also make me a better person. I don't know how to say it in any other way, but, James Potter, I think I love you."

"That's wonderful, Padme Black, because I think I love you too."

At that moment, joy overwhelmed Padme and she couldn't stop herself: she almost jumped on James, tying her legs around his waist and taking his face in her hands as she kissed him. He held her tighter and rubbed his hands on her thighs.

She let her hands slip down to his waist and pulled off his shirt, running her fingers on his bare chest. Gliding his hands along her body, James pulled off her shirt as well, smiling as he saw her bra.

"Bright pink? Really?" he said between two kisses

"You like it?" asked Padme

"I love it!" he answered kissing her again.

Their mouths pressed together, they breathed the smell of the other. Slowly, James unzipped her pants and she let him do it. He rubbed his hands on her bare legs and her skin tingled. She took off his pants as well and they were both in their underwear, kissing on the floor, bodies pressed together like nothing else in the world existed.

After a while, they slowed down. They both smiled at each other and James kissed Padme's shoulder.

"Your body is the only thing that's warm in this room," chuckled Padme, "I'm freezing."

"I'll hold you closer," suggested James

"I think it's getting late, we'd better go back to our rooms. "

"That was a lot of fun," said James as he rubbed Padme's back.

"It was", she replied, smiling and drawing circles with her fingers on his chest.

They put their clothes back on and kissed again before leaving the room. James walked her to her common room and kissed her one last time before leaving.

"Have a good night," Padme whispered in his ear.

"You too," he replied.

They parted and Padme ran to her room to tell the whole thing to Jennifer.


	13. TWELVE

TWELVE

The train ride back to King's Cross was too short. Padme and Jen sat together talking about everything they could possibly think of. When the train stopped and both girls got off and looked for Jennifer's mother. They spotted her in a tight hot blue dress and very high heels, reading a magazine on a bench. Jennifer waved.

"Mum!" she cried

"My baby girl!" cried her mother, pulling Jennifer in for a hug.

Padme had seen Jennifer's mother many times, but the resemblance struck her every single time. As Jennifer and her mother pulled away, Padme awkwardly stood there, not knowing what to say.

"Hi!" she finally decided on saying.

"Hi, Padme. It's been such a long time! It's nice of you to spare my daughter this Christmas so she can spend it with her mommy!" Jennifer's mother said

"I'm really glad you both get to spend time together," she answered.

"Me too!" said Jen

"Now, if you'll please excuse me I have a brother to go looking for! Bye, Jen. Have a wonderful Christmas time!"

"You too! Have fun on the boat!"

Both friends hugged and Padme left to go find her little brother.

She found him already chatting with their aunt, Angelica. As soon as her aunt saw her, she went to embrace her.

"How are you? How was school? I've missed you so much!"

"I've missed you too, auntie Angelica!" said Padme

"Let's go, you'll have time to tell me all about school in the car! The house has been really quiet when you both were gone," said Angelica as she pulled away from her niece.

Dragging their huge trunks, Anakin and Padme followed their aunt out of King's Cross as she looked for her yellow fiat. As all three of them were raising themselves on their toes to see above the many heads, Padme felt something grab her wrist.

"I hope you didn't think I'd let you leave without saying goodbye," said James Potter as he pulled Padme closer, resting his hands on her hips. She put her arms around his neck and put her mouth to his.

When they pulled apart, Padme's aunt was staring with huge eyes, mouth opened wide, completely bewildered.

"This is new," she said blinking as if she thought what she had seen was only an illusion.

The rest of the Potter family came along and Anakin and Padme had a chance to say goodbye to Albus and Lily. Padme noticed how Al and his father looked almost exactly the same. As she was noticing the similarities between father and son, Harry Potter spoke:

"You must be Padme Black," he started

"I am," she answered not knowing what to say besides that.

"James, he spoke about your curious ancestry," he whispered.

She starred at him not knowing why he was bringing this up. She started regretting letting James inform his dad about her connection with Voldemort and with the house of Black. Harry Potter was James' father, but did he trust her just as much as James did? Would he try to attack her and her brother or send them to Azkaban?

She glanced quickly at Anakin, who looked nervous, and her aunt, who looked impatient. She looked back at James' father.

"What about it?" she asked quietly.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," he said, smiling genuinely.

At that moment, Angelica excused them and left with both siblings mumbling something about being late for boarding. Padme turned around one last time and blew a kiss to James saying "Merry Christmas!"

They had driven back home from King's Cross and traveled by flew powder to get on the ship. William and Elizabeth Black had been thrilled to see their children and had immediately decided on multiple things they were to do during their stay. Snorkeling (with the help of Gillyweed), sword fighting (with a wand flick every now and then) and trying to make the ship fly were only some of those activities.

School was discussed, though only briefly, leaving room for long adventurous tales about underwater caverns and lost islands. There was always something to talk about.

Christmas Eve came and they decorated a coconut tree with the pirate crew and ate a delicious meal, a sip of rum was even allowed to Padme and Anakin. Finally, the two siblings exchanged gifts with their parents and aunt on the ship's deck, under a warm night sky accompanied by a soft salty breeze. Anakin got the new Firebolt 500 from his parents and a bag full of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and candy. Padme got a gorgeous red lorikeet from her parents and a broken but beautiful time turner on a chain from her aunt.

After the gifts and whishing everyone a merry Christmas, they all went to bed and it was about 2 am when all of the crew was asleep as well. Though Padme was exhausted, she couldn't fall asleep. After a while of tossing and turning she went up on the deck to watch the sunrise.

Her mother was already there, sitting on the ground and motioned her to come and sit next to her.

"Good morning, love," Elizabeth whispered

"Merry Christmas, mum," her daughter answered

"It's different than back in London, isn't it? No snow, only bright sunshine and heat. I love it," Elizabeth admitted.

"I like it too, but I think I'd miss the snow after a while. I think I'd miss watching the shop owners decorating their shops from auntie Angelica's apartment window."

Padme's mother put her hand around her shoulder and gave her daughter a squeeze.

"I've missed you," she said

"I've missed you too," Padme answered

"You know I couldn't go back, right?" her mother asked

"Yeah. Even if you could, I don't think you would. You love it so much here, out on the sea. I don't think you could ever go back to living confined in a city, and I would never ask you to do it. Same goes for dad."

"You're very brave, you know that, don't you?"

Padme looked at her mother, noticing how similar, yet different they both looked. She brought her hand to her neck and touched James gift. She had finally decided on wearing it.

"Do you know if grandma was adopted?"

"Why would you suddenly ask that?" her mother asked, confused.

"Please answer."

"I think she was found on a door step, kind of like Harry Potter," her mother laughed

"So you don't know who her biological parents are, right?"

"No, I do not know."

"What if I knew who her father was…?"

"And who would that be?"

"Lord Voldemort."

"Excuse me?" her mother asked, eyes wide open.

"Hear me out, mum, please. I'll explain."

She explained to her mother the whole story from the basilisk to James Potter and how she came to have the locket. At first, her mother doubted her, but soon enough, she realised everything just fit perfectly together.

"That would explain the fact that we're Parselmouths. No Muggle-born would ever be able to talk to snakes! It all makes so much sense," said Elizabeth

"Aren't you worried? Scared? You sound as if you had simply discovered why werewolves howl or something!"

"It doesn't change anything to my life, sweetheart. It only makes my past a bit clearer. I won't go screaming it on top of every roof but it doesn't affect my future in any way, Voldemort is dead! You're not worried, are you love?"

"Not as much as I was," she answered truthfully.

"Good. That Potter boy helped you, didn't he?"

Padme nodded and smiled a little.

"He's a good person. I'm happy for you, sweetheart."

Mother and daughter hugged and watched the sunset calmly together.

Later on Christmas morning, Padme and Anakin prepared gifts for their closest friends. With the help of their dad, they tried charming an Indian Evening primrose to make it play music for Jennifer. After a while, they had to abandon and ask the help of their aunt, who charmed the plant quite easily. With that, they wrote a letter wishing her a merry Christmas and a happy new year, adding a gorgeous blue topaz pendant and a funny picture of Anakin.

After that, came the gifts for the Potter siblings, Scorpius and Josh. Anakin and Padme wrapped for each one of them a small pack of tropical chocolate, a small forever smelling Caribbean Lily and a letter wishing them some happy holidays. Lily, Albus, Josh and Scorpius were allowed to have the picture of Anakin fighting off a squid that Padme insisted on sending to them as well as to Jennifer. James got a picture of Padme swimming with fish, wearing the locket he gave her. Padme's new lorikeet had a lot to carry so they sent their father's parrot to help.

Three days after, they saw the lorikeet and the parrot coming back with letters and gifts as well. However, not only did the birds arrive that day, a ship of Muggle pirates decided to visit as well. It did not go to well for them since they were obviously unaware that they were facing wizards. Even Padme and her brother got to cast a few spells at them before their parents cast the obliviate spell on the Muggles after sinking their ship.

"Serves them right to mess with us!" said Will as they were sailing away.

The rest of the holidays went by normally (for when you spend them on a pirate ship) and it was soon time to head back to England. Trunks packed, Padme, Anakin and their aunt were almost ready to leave.

"I'll miss you daddy," Padme said as she hugged her dad tightly.

"I'll miss you too, my Calypso, I love you," he said

Padme chuckled as her dad used her old nickname.

"I love you too. See you this summer?

"Of course."

Padme then moved to say goodbye to her mother.

"Have a safe trip, darling. I love you," her mother said

"Thank you mum, I love you too. Don't miss me too much."

"I'll try not to but I can't make any promises."

After Angelica and Anakin had said their goodbyes as well, they all departed. In a flash, they all were back in Angelica's chimney.

"Off to bed quickly! Train leaves early tomorrow morning and we better not be late, because I do not want to figure out a way to bring you there one my own!" Angelica scolded.

Exhausted and knowing better than to defy their equally as tired aunt, the siblings both went to bed immediately without even changing into their pajamas.


	14. THIRTEEN

THIRTEEN

"She actually attempted to cook!" laughed Jennifer, "Of course, it wasn't edible so we ended up ordering pizza but it was hilarious watching her with her pots and pans!"

Padme slowly opened her eyes, waking up at her friend's laughter. She straightened her body and realised she was sleeping on James' shoulder. Seeing her awake, he said:

"You better thank Merlin I like you because it's been half an hour you're drooling on my shirt."

Padme clumsily apologized as she was just waking up and her brain was still slow at work.

"Don't worry about it, I was just joking," he said.

"What did they do to you on that ship? You keep falling asleep," Jen said.

" _A lot of screaming, physical activity and not a lot of sleeping_ ," Padme thought.

"Was it fun?" asked Albus.

"Yeah, I really enjoyed it," answered Padme quietly.

"Ani doesn't seem as affected as you," noticed Lily.

"Did you talk to your parents about McGonagall's strange attitude?" asked Anakin randomly.

"Yeah, but they didn't say anything too helpful," admitted Albus.

"They just kept babbling about their time at Hogwarts, discussing their weirdest teachers and stuff. We got to hear all over again about good old Gilderoy Lockhart and toad-faced Dolores Umbridge," said Lily

"They said it was probably nothing but that we could still look into it if we wanted," added James.

"What about your parents?" asked Lily.

"Oh, don't look at me, my mum's a Muggles. She wouldn't know anything about it," said Jen.

"And I don't think our parents were as acquainted with McGonagall as yours were, so not much information there," admitted Anakin.

They continued chatting until the train came to a stop and hurried back to the castle as it was very cold.

The next morning, Padme met James in Potion class. She had finally slept and was feeling much better. Her two weeks with the pirates had drained her. They woke up at the crack of dawn and went to bed close to twelve every single night.

"Hey," she said joyfully, sitting down next to James.

"You look better!" James said, leaning in for a kiss.

"Potter!" Professor Lima yelled "No kissing in my class! Today, we will be learning about Polyjuice potion…"

Padme had to nudge James multiple times as he was starting to draw circles with his finger on her leg and not to pay attention anymore.

"Listen this could be useful!" she told him.

"I already know about it," he said "My aunt can practically brew it with her eyes closed! She made us all try it. It was actually fun, now that I think of it. I drank the one with Al's hair in it and it was golden or something like that. It wasn't so bad, it tasted like butter."

"What color was yours?" Padme asked, truly intrigued.

"It was a dark burgundy red, it looked slightly like blood but Lily drank it and said it tasted like caramel."

"What about Lily's?"

"It was…er…light purple, I think. I remember Rose drank it and I think she said it tasted like vanilla."

"Is it possible that they taste bad?"

"Of course. If you take it from someone who's terrible, it'll probably taste like toad poo."

"What would mine taste like?" she wondered out loud.

"If it taste the same as your lips, I bet it tastes divine."

At that Padme smiled and took James' hand as they both tried to listen for the rest of the class. As Professor Lima was talking, an idea suddenly occurred to Padme.

"James," she whispered

"You're the one distracting me now," he said

"I think I know why McGonagall is acting differently. It's because she's not McGonagall!"

James had a puzzled look on his face but then quickly understood what she meant.

"Polyjuice potion," he whispered.

"But who would want to pretend to be her? That's what I'm wondering," said Padme

James thought for a minute and then the answer struck him.

"We have to organize another council meeting: I think I know who it is!"

At that the bell rang and they both hurried out of class to go find the others. They split up and were able to tell everyone quickly enough.

"Did he tell you who it was?" Anakin asked after his sister told him.

"No, he said he absolutely wanted to share it with everyone at once so he doesn't have to explain twenty times," she answered

"Typical James," Lily answered to that, "He just wants to be mysterious."

"Guess we'll find out together then!"

"You're right Ani," said his sister.

The evening came and they were all once again reunited in the Room of Requirements.

James was pacing around and as everyone sat and Anakin finally arrived, he cut Rose off and started immediately.

"We have to get this over with quickly because I need Padme to help me for Herbology homework after so let's get going! We've establ-"

"I never agreed to that!" said Padme.

"We'll talk about it later. So, as I was saying, we've established that McGonagall isn't McGonagall-"

"We never established that!" cut Rose

"By _we_ , I mean Padme and me, and this is why we are having this meeting, so that we can tell you about what we've established. So, again, as I was saying before being interrupted for the second time, we think McGonagall is not herself. We think it's someone who's taking Polyjuice potion. Think about it! The spies saw her putting a weird dark green liquid in her teacup and then drinking it quite often."

"It does make sense," agreed Scorpius.

"Thank you, Malfoy. For once, I'm glad you're here," said James.

"Thanks…I guess," replied Scorpius.

"But who do you think it is?" asked Anakin.

James gave them a look saying "Isn't obvious?", but they all starred at each other clueless.

"Lily! Al! You should know this! Who used to always drink from a teacup and used to have this wicked smile on her face everywhere?" asked James.

"By Merlin's hat! It's Umbridge!" yelled Albus and Lily in unison.

"Two questions," said Padme, "First of all, why would Umbridge want to impersonate McGonagall? Second of all, where the bloody hell is the real McGonagall?"

"Well," Rose started, "she always wanted to control Hogwarts…"

"But she hasn't made any drastic changes yet," said Hugo.

"True," agreed Lily.

"What if she's still waiting? Maybe she doesn't want to strike just yet?" suggested Jennifer.

They all agreed, as it was the most realistic explanation they had so far. Yet, Padme still wondered why an old ugly lady would want to take McGonagall's place. What could control over Hogwarts possibly bring her? Could she know about the basilisk? She seriously doubted it. Maybe that Umbridge woman just had some control issues? Probably more than that. James abruptly interrupted her train of thought as he grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the Room.

"What are we doing?" she asked, bewildered as he dragged her along the hallway.

"Meeting's over. Herbology homework. You're my tutor, remember?"

"You don't have to drag me around like that. I can walk, you know?"

"No offense, but you walk really slowly and we don't have a lot of time left before we have to get back to our dorms."

"You didn't write anything, did you?"

"Not a single word."

"I don't understand how I ever thought you were smart. Can't even write a single scroll on Dittany's benefits…"

"Please, I just procrastinate and Herbology isn't my best subject. Plus, you know I'm smart or else you wouldn't be dating me. Could you walk a bit faster please?

"Fine."

She suddenly started running away from James and laughing as he chased after her. He quickly caught up with her and they went to sit in their old History of Magic classroom.

After a quick recap on Dittany, James was able to start writing. Padme looked at him as he wiggled his quill back and forth on the parchment scroll, trying his best to write decently. He looked up at her as he realised she was looking at him. She looked at his eyes and smiled:

"Did I ever tell you how gorgeous your eyes were?"

"No, but I'm glad you just did," James laughed.

He finished his scroll and Padme corrected it just in time, for they had to quickly head back to their dorms.

Anxious to find her adored bed, Padme hurried up in the bathroom and quickly went to the room she shared with Jen, being the only Slytherin girls in their year, they had the privilege to be only two in their room. As she opened the door, she saw Jennifer quickly lay down and pretend to sleep.

"Jen, I know you're awake."

Jennifer groaned and sat up on her bed, her face and eyes red. Tears were whelming up in her eyes again, she wiped them away with her sleeve.

"What happened?" asked Padme

"It's nothing," replied Jennifer

"Oh, please, you're crying, it can't be nothing," said Padme

"Sean, that's what happened," admitted Jennifer

"What about that idiot?" Padme asked

"I broke up with him?"

Padme starred at her friend, completely lost. If she had broken up with Finnegan, why was she the one crying?

"Isn't him that should be crying, Jen? Not you?"

"He took it rather well. To be honest, I don't even think he minded."

"I'm really sorry, but I don't understand what's wrong…"

"What's wrong is I never even liked him!" Tears pearled down Jennifer's cheeks.

"Then why did you date him? Why did you yell at me for thinking he was an idiot? Why on earth did you spend so much time with someone you didn't even like? You're not making any sense!"

"He was always nice and funny, and it's not that I dislike him, it's just that I like someone else"

"Then why did you date him instead of that someone else-wait…you liked someone and you didn't even tell me?"

"I couldn't do any of those things."

"Why?"

"Because it's just so weird…"

"I'm tired of you just running around in circles, spill it up!"

"Fine. I think I like Albus…"

"What?" yelled Padme. She couldn't believe she hadn't notice such a thing.

"I couldn't tell you because you're friends with him and no way would you've been able to keep acting normal around him after knowing my secret."

Padme was about to object.

"Don't you dare deny it Padme, I know how terrible you are at pretending. Plus, I didn't want to ruin anything. We had such a great friendship and I didn't want to complicate everything. And, he's younger than me, which is even weirder," finished Jennifer

"I can't believe I didn't notice that earlier…"

"Unlike you, I'm good at acting," said Jennifer

"Still doesn't explain why you're crying…"

"I'm crying because I don't know what else I can do. I thought dating Sean would distract me, but he's really not my type and so it didn't work. I don't know what to do anymore."

"First of all, calm down. Don't you dare cry for boys! Second of all, I think you should just tell Al."

"As if!"

"No really, I think you should tell him, know once and for all if he's feeling the same way about you, and maybe you two could give it a try," explained Padme as she now realised she had been totally blind to Al and Jennifer's attractiveness towards each other.

"But what if he just finds it awkward and then you can't be friends with me and Al?"

"Let's just cut the drama here. Al likes you too."

"How can you be so sure?"

"James told me," she admitted, knowing James would probably not approve of her telling this to Jen. However, she did it anyway because she had a feeling it would all work out in the end.

"How can he be so sure?" asked Jennifer

"Al told him."

"Are you sure?"

"James said I wasn't allowed to tell you this but Al has been asking for tips on how to be more charming or something like that and sked how James did it with me so he could do it with you since we were friends and apparently he thinks we're very similar."

"But we're not. We're different, we complement each other."

"I know, that's why I thought it was funny. Anyway, James told me this right after we came back from the holidays because he found it hilarious that his brother would ask him for such advice, admitting that he totally winged it with me." laughed Padme.

"So what do I do?" asked Jennifer.

"Ask him out on a date!"

"Why doesn't he ask me?"

"By Merlin's beard! It doesn't matter! Stop whining and ask him tomorrow morning or I'll have the bloody basilisk eat you!"

"Sheesh! No need to be like _that_!"

"So, you'll ask him?"

"If I have to…"

"Feeling better?"

"Much better. Thanks for that little pep talk, well, pep scream…"

"Always a pleasure. Goodnight!"

"Goodnight!"


	15. FOURTEEN

FOURTEEN

Padme was sitting with Scorpius in the library, doing homework, when Rose came barging in.

"Guys! Guys! I know what she wants to do!"

Padme and Scorpius looked at her with nothing but confusion in their eyes.

"Who's she?" asked Scorpius.

"Who's guys?" joked Padme.

"Very clever, ha-ha," said Scorpius sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.

"I'm talking about McGonagall, well Umbridge. I know what she has planned out to do!" whispered Rose.

"And that is…"

"Well, I don't exactly know, but I've figured out part of her plan. She's putting students under the Imperio Curse one at a time!"

"Why would she want to do that?" asked Scorpius.

"She wants to create some kind of army!" yelled Padme.

"Shush! We're in a library," warned Rose, "but what would she need an army for?"

"Well, from what I heard, she seemed like a pretty big control freak. What could give her the most power?" whispered Padme.

"She wants to take over the Ministry of Magic! No one would dare hurt innocent Hogwarts kids, especially not if they're under a spell! She plans to curse us one by one and then make us do all the dirty work for her!" exclaimed Rose.

"I'm sorry, but how do you even know she put some students under the Imperio curse?" asked Padme.

"I've noticed a couple of kids acting weird and so I looked up their behaviour, and turns out, that's how you behave under the curse! Power of books, my friend!"

Rose was smart. Was she was saying made sense and Padme mentally scolded herself for not noticing the weird acting students too.

"But what are we going to do?" asked Scorpius.

"Council?" suggested Rose.

"Not again," moaned Padme, "We have to stop talking and start acting!"

"True," agreed Rose.

"Rose, I think you and I should do some research and figure out how to reveal someone who's taking Polyjuice Potion. Then, we reveal her to the teachers and they'll take care of her. Meanwhile, Padme, you and the others can try to figure out where McGonagall is!" suggested Scorpius.

"That's a very interesting plan, but I have a better one. Yours is going to take forever," said Padme.

"Then what do you suggest?" asked Rose.

"Simple and easy. We distract her, know her out, take away her Polyjuice potion flask and her wand, take her to the Room of Requirements, tie her up and finally ask her where on Merlin's hat she put the real McGonagall!"

"That's risky, but admitting your plan works until the tying her up part, do you really expect her to just hand herself over and deliver McGonagall?" asked Scorpius

"For the McGonagall part, if she doesn't speak, I'll just use Legilimency. Now for the handing over part-"

"You're a Legilimens?" gasped Rose.

"Didn't you know? Anakin too, our auntie taught us!"

"First the Parseltongue, now Legilimency, sounds a lot like Voldemort to m…" Scorpius stopped after seeing the look on Padme's face.

Padme stood up and packed her things as Rose hit Scorpius on the shoulder.

"He didn't mean it like that! He was only joking…" started Rose.

"I'm sorry Padme, "apologized Scorpius

"I don't care. You of all people should know better than to joke around with that or did you forget that your family was in his servitude at some point?" snapped Padme.

"Don't you dare mention my family like that!"

"Oh you started it!"

"Guys, please stop. Calm down, we'll just settle this calmly and…" started Rose

"I'm done here." Padme quickly left, furious.

How could Scorpius forget how sensible she was to that? She accepted the fact that she was related to the stupid Dark Lord, but she didn't need to be reminded every now and then about how similar they were! Anakin was similar to her too, yet he didn't seem to have that problem. He just went along as if it didn't bother him, exactly like their mother. In fact, it probably didn't even bother him at all. Why did it only affect her so much?

She ran in the hallway only to stop when she was out of breath. She sat on the floor in an empty hallway and realised she was on the second floor, next to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. She slowly got up and walked to the sink where the entrance of Chamber was located.

"Who's there?" a voice asked.

" _Merlin be damned, Myrtle's here!"_ she thought. She pulled out her wand and petrified the ghost before she even had time to realise what was happening. She gaped in surprise at Myrtle's frozen figure. She had no idea _Petrificus Totalus_ worked on ghosts.

She dragged petrified Myrtle to a stall and locked her up inside it. She knew it wouldn't keep her in, but she didn't want to be seen opening the Chamber.

Inside the Chamber, she told the basilisk to close its eyes.

" _How are you_?" she asked

" _I'm fine. But you, you don't look too right_ ," Alberto replied

" _Why is it that the whole Voldemort thing affects me so much? Ani doesn't mind, mum doesn't mind, even my friends don't mind! Why do I have to care so much? Do you know?_ "

" _I think you're more concerned about this because you worry about being evil. Your brother and mother, they do bad things sometimes, yet they know inside of them that they are good people and that they mean no harm. This is why they are not as affected as you are. You, on the other hand, have a fear so big about turning evil that the slightest mention of you being linked to something dark turns you off. You fear you will not be able to resist it. But I don't think you should worry. I think you will be just fine. Stay close to your friends and family and remember love is always triumphant._ "

" _You speak very wisely for a young lizard_ ," giggled Padme. The simple words of the basilisk had calmed her and she now understood why it bothered her so much. She touched the locket resting on her chest. She wasn't afraid, it reminded her of that. No one was scared of her and she didn't feel like hurting anyone. She finally understood that she truly needed to stop worrying about her choices because she would always have friends and family to guide her to make the right ones. She wasn't evil. Thinking of evil, she remembered Umbridge and quickly went back up after saying goodbye to her pet.

She ran to the common room, hoping to find Al and Jen, who were spending the day together, and Anakin. As she entered she saw her friends and let them in on her plan.

"Who else knows about this?" asked Al

"Us three, Rose and Scorpius," she answered

"We have to tell the others!" said Jennifer

"Let's go find them! "said Al.

Walking around school, they found Anakin and Lily in the kitchen trying to get hold of some butterbeer Kreacher would not let them have.

"I'm your Mistress, Kreacher! You have to do as I tell you!" yelled Lily

"Mistress Ginny said not to let Lily have any beer of any sort. Kreacher obeys her," yelled Kreacher as he yanked on the bottle Lily was trying to take away from him.

"I'll tickle him!" Anakin suggested.

"Stop it!" Padme screamed.

"We have really important stuff to talk about. Get out here, both of you," said Albus.

Anakin and Lily reluctantly let Kreacher have the bottle back and followed outside. Quickly, Padme explained her plan.

"You didn't tell me you were a Legilimens! Are you one too, Ani?" Lily asked.

"Talk about it later," said Padme, "We have important stuff to do now. Where's James?"

"I think he's training for Quidditch, "said Lily.

"I'll go fetch him, you guys find Rose and Scorp and meet us in the Room of Requirements. Sounds good?" asked Padme

They nodded and went their separate ways. Padme ran back to her common room and grabbed her broom. She saw Scorpius walk in and went to talk to him.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I shouldn't have gotten angry so easily."

"It's fine. I'm sorry too. Let's just forget about what happened, we were both bloody idiots."

"I agree," she said, "By the way, find Albus and the others, we're executing our plan!"

She was glad her argument with Scorpius hadn't gotten out of hand and that they were back to being friends. She left and flew her broom out of the castle to the Quidditch field, being careful not to be seen with her broom inside.

As she arrived there, she saw James alone in front of the three hoops. Quaffles were being thrown at him, but by who, she couldn't see. As she got closer, she realised James had charmed the Quaffles so they would throw themselves at him on their own.

"That's wicked!" she yelled.

James turned around and starred, bewildered to see her. Not paying any more attention to the flying balls, he got hit by a Quaffle and almost fell off his broom. Padme giggled.

"What are you doing here? Spying to win against Gryffindor?" asked James.

"If I was spying, you wouldn't have noticed. But that's not it, I have something important to tell you, it's about Umbridge."

She once again explained her plan and once again she had to explain the fact the she was a Legilimens.

"Did you ever use it on me?" he asked.

"No, you would've felt it if I had," she answered.

"Can you try it now?" he asked.

"We have to go!"

"Please! Just really quickly! I want to know what it feels like!"

"It doesn't feel nice to have someone in your head, James. Now, come on!"

"Padme, please! I really want to know! I swear on Merlin's cat you won't regret it!"

"Fine."

They got back to the ground so she could concentrate better and she looked at James in the eye.

"Don't you need a wand?" James asked before she started

"No. I can do it nonverbally and I don't need a wand. I've done this many times before. Now, shush."

She concentrated into his eyes until she could see his mind. Quickly, pictures started showing up of James' thoughts, emotions and memories. She saw him holding Lily as a baby and smiling and racing with Al, his father and an older boy with blue hair on a broom. She liked to focus on the happy times. She felt all the love he had received from his family. She saw him as his wand chose him and felt his pride when he received his Quidditch Captain badge. She enjoyed navigating through his mind, watching him training with Oliver Wood and pulling pranks around school. Then, she saw herself. She watched James as he watched her smiled, watched her sing and dance in the hallway with Jen. She saw both of them under the Invisibility cloak and felt James' nervousness on that night. She saw their first kiss and their meeting before Christmas. James was feeling such a gush of love James on that night that it overwhelmed her and she lost her focus. She lost the connection to his mind and came back to reality, staring at him. They were both panting and slightly sweating. Legilimency wasn't a piece of cake.

"Wow," was all she was able to say.

"Wasn't so bad," James said, "Why did you stop?"

"You saw what I saw, you know why…" she said smirking.

"Too much love?" he grinned.

"I wasn't expecting that. That's why it threw me off…" she tried explaining but quickly realised she had a better idea. She quit talking and pulled James to her, kissing him. She slipped her hands under his shirt caressing his warm skin. She felt his hands gliding from her back to her hips, making her skin tingle.

"I love it when you do that," she whispered in his ear as he kissed her neck. Suddenly, however, she realised they had other things to do. Part of her desperately wanted to stay there forever, but her other half knew they were needed elsewhere. She pulled away reluctantly.

"What is it?" asked James, concerned.

"We have to solve the Umbridge problem. We don't have much time. Soon enough, half the students will be under the Imperio Curse and it'll be even harder to kidnap her."

"You're right, let's go!"


	16. FIFTEEN

FIFTEEN

They rapidly flew their brooms back to the castle and went to meet up with the others. To their surprise, Umbridge-McGonagall was already tied to a chair, all of their friends around her.

"We saw an opportunity and decided we didn't really need your help to do that and since you were taking so much time…" Lily started.

"It's fine. It's actually great. You took away her wand and her Polyjuice potion?" asked Padme.

Lily nodded.

"We just have to wait for her to wake up," said Albus.

As he said so, Umbridge-McGonagall started to move. She opened her eyelids and seeing herself tied up, surrounded by kids, she started screaming.

"No one can hear you. Don't bother," said Lily.

"Untie me immediately children or I will give you the worst detention you ever had! I am your headmistress, I deserve respect and I will have order!" Umbridge-McGonagall screamed.

"Nice try, _Dolores_ …" said James.

Umbridge-McGonagall immediately turned blank. She shot nasty looks at every single one of them. Suddenly, her face started to deform. Her thin and stern face became toad-like and she shortened as her hair began to curl. Soon enough, it was no longer McGonagall who was tied to the chair but Dolores Umbridge wearing robes clearly too tight for her.

"I should've known! The Potter kids! I hate you, I hate you!" yelled Umbridge, turning red from anger.

"Tell us where you put the real McGonagall!" said Rose.

"If you think, you insolent child, that I am going to tell you the slightest thing, you are wrong!" shrieked Umbridge.

"Surely, Dolores, you have heard of Legilimency…" said James, smirking.

"I know for sure your father was terrible at Occlumency, so if by any chance you are just as good as he was in Legilimency, you do not scare me Potter," spat Umbridge.

"Oh, Dolores," chuckled James, "How foolish of you to think I would be the one entering your mind. No, no, no, we have someone a bit more qualified to do so."

"Hello, Miss Umbridge, I don't believe we've met," said Padme.

"If you think for a second that you will be able to reach my mind, you are wrong. I've heard you were a fantastic witch, Miss Black, but Legilimency requires more than just spells and charms!"

Padme looked at the woman with disgust. She had barely met her for a couple of minutes and she already loathed her. Everything about that woman was just repulsive. However, Umbridge could always be gifted at Occlumency and would make her work harder. So far, she didn't seem too scared, if she could only push her to be a bit more terrified and start doubting herself, then it would be easy to navigate her mind. Playing with her wand in her hands, she smirked at Umbridge. She just had a brilliant idea.

She slip her hand in her shirt and untucked the Slytherin locket. Umbridge's reaction was far more intense than she had expected.

"How did you get that? It was mine!" she yelled.

"Do you know what this is? It's an heirloom of the Slytherin family. You were never part of that family and so, it was never yours. I, on the other hand, am a descendant of Salazar Slytherin. One might even say, that I am Lord Voldemort's heir. Surely, you have herd of the incomparable talent they both had for Legilimency and unluckily for you, it runs in the family," said Padme calmly as she watch Umbridge turn two shades paler.

Padme smiled inside, she had finally completely embraced her ancestry. Great and powerful wizards were part of that family. Bad wizards? Maybe. But that was there choice, she decided to embrace the power but to do what was good with it. She looked at Umbridge, concentrated and tried to enter her mind. Umbridge was resisting and it was considerably harder than with James. Finally, she concentrated even more and was able to stop her Occlumency.

Then, she saw all the horrible things the woman did and how badly she had treated James' father. She watched as she sent Dementors to attack innocent wizards and Muggles and was disgusted by Umbridge's need of control. Finally, she saw the woman stunning McGonagall, locking her up in a trunk and taking her appearance. She saw Umbridge put the trunk in her office on the first day of school and grinning evilly in her McGonagall form.

She also saw a glimpse of her plan, who looked quite honestly exactly how Rose had predicted: an army of students to take over the Ministry. With all the information she needed, she left Umbridge's mind. Her travel through Umbridge's mind was truly exhausting because of all the atrocities she had to see and feel and so, when she got out, she was panting and her legs were shaking. James quickly went to steady her. She decided to sit on the ground.

"She's in a trunk, in her office. Probably kept her close so she could get more of her hair and stuff," said Padme between two breaths.

"Scorp, Rose, Jen and I will go and find her," decided Al, "you guys stay here and decide what we're going to do with Umbridge."

The four of them left in a hurry.

"I think we should go get Neville, James. We don't know how to contact dad in time, maybe he'll be able to help," suggested Lily.

"You're right, go," James told her.

"I'll come with you!" said Anakin.

Lily and Anakin left too, leaving James and Padme alone with a sweaty Umbridge.

James turned and focused on Padme, she was pale and truly didn't look well.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her, taking her face in his hands.

"Weak. I think I was a bit too long in her wicked and nasty mind," admitted Padme.

"Everything's fine now," whispered James as he hugged her.

"Ha!" they heard Umbridge scream. They quickly turned around and saw her standing, free of her bounds, a wand in her hand.

"Did you think I was stupid enough to carry only Minerva's wand? I had mine as well, you foolish children!" she yelled in victory.

She waved her wand and shot a curse at Padme and James. They dodged just in time and pulled out their own wands.

James shots various spells at Umbridge while Padme focused on blocking the ones Umbridge was sending. Too soon, she felt herself get tired and lose focus. Umbridge grabbed the opportunity, seeing Padme's sudden weakness and shot a Crucio Curse at her.

Pain flashed through all of Padme's body as her body convulsed and she yelled in agony. Hearing Padme screaming made James went to stop and crouch down at her side, but he had to supress the urge and continue fighting. He was getting tired too, Umbridge may not have looked like it, but she was a good witch.

Suddenly, a flicker of pure evil glittered in Umbridge's eyes as she looked at Padme's form on the ground. She raised her wand and started "Avada Ke-" but didn't have time to finish.

Desperate to save Padme, James put all his energy in his wand and shot the most powerful stunning spell he had ever seen on Umbridge. "STUPEFY!" he yelled. The force of his spell sent Umbridge crashing through the window and falling from the seventh floor. He rushed to the window and saw her dislocated body on the ground and heard many screams as people started to gather around to see what had happened.

At that moment, the door opened and Lily, Anakin and Neville Longbottom came in. Seeing his sister on the floor, Anakin rushed to her side.

"Where's Umbridge?" asked Neville.

James pointed to the window. Neville and Lily approached and look down to see Umbridge's dead body and Professor Lima trying to make her way through the crowd of students to see what the commotion was about.

Neville turned to James.

"You did this?" he asked.

"I didn't have a choice! She had an extra wand and she got away! We fought and then she shot a Crucio curse at Padme and after that she tried the killing curse and I couldn't let her do it so I stunned her really hard. I never thought it would be that powerful!" explained James.

"Don't worry, I wasn't going to blame you or anything. You did what you had to do and it's not like anyone's going to miss her," Neville said as he patted James on the back.

"Thanks, Neville," said James gratefully.

They both turned to Anakin who was helping his sister sit up. James rushed to her. Padme slowly breathed as she watch her boyfriend come closer and crouch next to her. He lifted her chin with two of his fingers so she would look at him in the eye. All his heroism and courage shone through him and made her feel better. The love she felt for him was so intense in that moment that she forgot about all her pains. She smiled and simply said "I love you." He smiled back and said "I know," as he leaned and kissed her. Anakin awkwardly scouted away and looked at Lily and Neville.

"Does Harry know about this?" Neville asked Lily.

She nodded.

As James and Padme pulled apart. Neville said "I think we should get you to the infirmary, Miss Black. Then, we'll have to find all the students under the Imperio Curse and turn them back to normal. I'll contact Harry also. "

"Let's go then!" said James as he swept Padme off the ground and carried her to the door.

"I can walk," she said.

"I know," he answered.

He carried her all the way to the hospital wing followed by Anakin, Lily and Neville.

"You could've told me earlier about the whole Umbridge thing," Padme heard Neville say.

"We had it under control," said Lily, "Plus, we had to keep it secret, and even if we told you, I doubt you would've believed us. You had to see the real McGonagall limping to the hospital wing with the help of Scorp and Al for you to come with us!"

"True. I'm sorry about that. I should know by now that there's always something fishy happening here in Hogwarts," admitted Neville.

They all laughed at how true Neville's statement was. Hogwarts was no ordinary school.

As they entered the hospital wing, they saw their friends sitting around Professor McGonagall's bead. Seeing Padme in James' arms, they all stood up and asked if she was fine. James laid her down on a bed and Madam Pomfrey crouched down to examine her while James told the whole story to his friends.

Madam Pomfrey left and came back with a great quantity of chocolate, saying that all McGonagall and Padme needed was rest and chocolate. Neville left but the others stayed in the infirmary all day until Madam Pomfrey had to kick them out.

As night came, it was dark in the room but Padme could see Professor McGonagall deeply breathing as she peacefully slept next to her. She knew she had to rest, but she simply couldn't fall asleep. Suddenly, she heard footsteps. She looked around, no one was there. She felt something grab her shoulder and refrained from screaming as she saw her brother take off the Invisibility cloak.

"James let me borrow it," he explained, "I knew you wouldn't be able to fall asleep so I asked him to come so I could help you rest."

"Do you know a spell that can make me fall asleep?" asked Padme.

"No, but I know a song."

She hugged her brother as he sat down on the bed.

"Now sleep," he whispered.

She laid down and shut her eyes while her brother softly sang.

" _Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me_

 _We pillage plunder, we rifle and loot_

 _Drink up me 'earties, yo ho_

 _We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot_

 _Drink up me 'earties, yo ho_

 _We're beggars and blighters and ne'er do-well cads_

 _Drink up me 'earties, yo ho_

 _Aye, but we're loved by our mommies and dads_

 _Drink up me 'earties, yo ho_

 _Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me…"_

She fell asleep to the same song that had put her to bed so many times as a child.

The next day, she woke up early. She tried to get up and move her legs, but soon realised she couldn't, for Anakin was crushing them. He had fallen asleep there last night. She tickled him until he woke up.

"Good morning!" she giggled.

"I sing for you and that's how you thank me? By tickling me to death?" he asked, pretending to be scandalised.

"Oh, please, that was nothing," Padme said, shaking her head at her brother's exaggeration.

"I think I'd better get out of here before Madam Pomfrey wakes up because she will not mind causing my death!"

He scurried off with the cloak and left Padme alone to eat her chocolate.


	17. SIXTEEN

SIXTEEN

All the students that had been put under the Imperio Curse were brought back to normal and a group of aurors led by James' father went to examine the situation and then dispose of Umbridge's body. After that, everything went back to normal. Indeed, the remaining weeks went by fairly quickly and without any notable incidents. However, at the end of May, came the final for the Quidditch Cup, once again opposing Gryffindor and Slytherin.

The game was starting in approximately an hour and James and Padme were sitting together under the bleachers. James dressed in red and gold and Padme dressed in green and silver, they were both truly nervous about what was going to happen.

"So, we both really want that cup," started James.

"And we will not act any differently than if we wouldn't have been dating," continued Padme.

"We will still love each other no matter what," said James.

"Do you really think I'm that shallow? Not loving you anymore because of a Quidditch Cup?" asked Padme, pretending to be outraged.

James looked at her and raised an eyebrow and smirked. She giggled. She truly adored it when he made that face.

"One of us shall lead our team to victory today," said James.

"I think it'll be me. Sorry, James, but Slytherin team is better, besides, we won last year's cup!" she said.

"That doesn't mean anything. I think Gryffindor will win!" he announced.

"Game on, Gryffindor Captain!" said Padme.

"Game on, Slytherin Captain!" replied James.

With that they left as people were starting to get to the field. Padme walked to the Slytherin changing room to find her teammates already there. Even Anakin was there for once.

"Good to see you here, little bro!" she said as she walked in.

"Lily insisted on coming early," he explained.

"Smart girl!" said Jennifer.

Padme breathed in, and breathed out. She had a plan. All would go well. They had trained all year and she could hardly hope for a better team. Everything was going to be fine, perfectly fine.

"Ok. Here's the deal. Potter's an excellent Keeper, we'll have to be creative to score. Jen, Elliot, got it? We can use the dropping the Quaffle trick but not more than twice, even then it would be risky. We have to try to get as close to the posts as possible so he'll have less time to react. You both are great players, I'll know you'll play amazingly well. Scorp, don't let that Quaffle get past you. Gryffindor often aims for the higher hoop. James knows I saw that so he'll tell his players to aim for the ones or the right and left. Watch them closely. Anakin, Alexander, aim for their chasers. Anakin, aim for James if we get close to the hoops and Alexander, aim for Lily if you see her racing with Al and getting too close to the Snitch. Got it? Al, just catch the bloody Snitch as soon as possible. Don't let Lily beat you. If ever you can't find it, pretend to chase it and she'll follow you. You are all extremely talented players and you have trained hard this year. I don't see how this can go wrong. I could not honestly wish for a better team. Now, let's win this!" she yelled.

"Together!" they cheered.

They huddled together one last time and walked out. Gryffindor players were already standing at their spots. Padme walked up to the middle of the field where Madam Hooch was standing with the opposing team's Captain, James.

"I want a fair play. Make your houses proud. You may shake each other's hands," yelled Madam Hooch for everyone to hear.

James held out his hand and Padme took it, but instead of a normal handshake, he unexpectedly pulled her towards him and kissed her. She obviously had no choice but to kiss him back. They heard everyone gasp and Leia Jordan comment "Captains are getting a bit too friendly…"

Madam Hooch hit James on the back of the head and he stopped, though grinning mischievously. Padme smiled back and winked as she walked back to her team "Good luck!" she said.

He winked back and said "I don't need luck!"

Madam Hooch finally blew her whistle and the game started.

Padme caught the Quaffle first and passed it to Jennifer, however they weren't as lucky as to score. The played for fifty minutes without anyone scoring even once. After fifty five minutes, Elliot caught the Quaffle and flew to the goals. Padme quickly followed and flew beneath him at the last second as he intentionally dropped the ball after pretending to aim. She caught and scored.

"Want some of that luck, now, James?" she asked, laughing.

"No, I think you'll need it more than me," he replied.

Luckily, another opportunity of scoring presented itself to the Slytherin team. Elliot had caught the Quaffle and passed it to Jen who got saved from a Bludger by Alexander. She raced to the other side and Padme quickly followed to fly beneath her. James was expecting this, and so he flew down to block his girlfriend. However, after pretending to aim a shot, instead of dropping the ball, Jen threw it rapidly through one of the hoops, causing James to gape.

"James, I'm disappointed you think I'd try the same trick on you more than once. I'm not that lucky," said Padme.

"I was distracted by your smile, that's why I missed it," he laughed.

After 85 minutes of play, the score was 20-20 and everyone was tired. Padme called for a time-out.

"Albus Severus Potter, you need to catch that bloody Snitch for us to win. No way are we making more than 170 points with James as Keeper. I'm sorry to say this, but victory lies on your shoulders, however we'll focus on helping you instead of focusing on scoring. Alexander, you make sure not a single Bludger gets close to Al, send them all towards Lily, but don't injure her. The goal is to distract her, not send her to Madam Pomfrey. Anakin, you make sure no Bludger hits neither Al, nor Scorpius. Scorpius, keep up the great work, Elliot, Jen and I will help you by playing on a more defensive mode. Give it your all! Everyone ready?" she asked.

"Let's win this!" they yelled, smiling.

"Together!" she answered, laughing.

They carried off their plan and after a good fifteen minutes the Snitch was captured. By who? That was yet to be determined. Al and Lily had stretched their arms, hands and fingers to reach it and had apparently both grabbed it at the same time. They had to fly back down, Snitch clasped between their two hands to have Madam Hooch check who caught it first.

Everyone was silent and watchful as Madam Hooch asked Lily and Albus to open their hands. She took the immobile golden ball in her hands, then said" Ladies first."

Lily held out her hand and Madam Hooch placed the Snitch on the top of her fingers. Nothing happened. Padme held her breath as Al held out his hand. They had to win, they had to win, and they just had to win. She wanted to prove herself as a great Quidditch Captain and she wanted the absurdly amazing feeling of winning the cup. Madam Hooch slowly placed the Snitch on Albus' fingers. It suddenly opened its wings and everyone dressed in green and silver started cheering.

Excitement and joy flew through Padme's body and she ran to hug Albus. She pecked him on the cheek.

"Good job, Al! You were amazing!" she cheered as he was being lifted up by Elliot and Alexander. However, he jumped down as he saw Jennifer coming his way. They smiled at each other and then kissed at everyone's surprise. Padme backed away, slightly disturbed. She didn't like seeing people kissing in front of her like that and started wondering if that was how the others felt when she and James kissed.

She turned to Alexander and Elliot. "Good job, Padme! I told you you'd be a great Captain," said Elliot.

"Al did great, but I think we owe this win to you," continued Alexander.

She hugged them both and felt someone tugging her shirt. Her best friend was there, smiling. She immediately hugged her.

"Congratulations, Captain! You were truly fantastic!" said Jennifer.

"I couldn't have done it without you guys," she replied.

As they finished their embrace, she saw Anakin talking to Lily. She subtly got closer so she could hear what they were saying.

Lily looked disappointed. Anakin put a hand on her back and lifted her chin.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure Al only caught it because he had a longer arm," said Anakin.

Lily giggled and kissed him. Padme immediately turned around unable to look at her baby brother kissing someone. She was getting annoyed of people kissing here and there in public just like that.

As she was thinking, someone grabbed her hips and made her scream. She heard a familiar laugh and turned around.

"I'll never get tired of doing this," laughed James, "Good job on winning, you're a great Captain and you had a wicked strategy."

"Thank you," she said, "I definitely needed an outstanding strategy to beat such an amazing team, especially with such an incredibly talented and attractive Keeper…"

He smiled and pulled her closer and as he leaned in for a kiss, Padme realised that it didn't matter if people kissed randomly in front of everyone because she loved it when James did it with her. However, in this moment, there was no time for a kiss. Padme's arm was grabbed by one of the numerous Slytherin students that had come down from the bleachers. They were all heading back to their common room to where a huge party was being held. Padme waved at James, smiling as the crowd of silver and green dragged her away.

They had lots of fun at the party, pouring butterbeer in the Quidditch Cup and drinking from it. Once the celebration was over, Padme was so exhausted, she collapsed on her bed without even changing and fell asleep the moment her head touched the pillow.


	18. FINAL CHAPTER

**FINAL CHAPTER**

"Mommy and Daddy, that I love more than anything, can they please come over to grandma Weasley's place at one point during the summer? Please?" Lily begged as she walked out of King's Cross with her parents.

Her two brothers and cousins along with Jen, Scorpius, Anakin and Padme were walking behind.

"We got Lily to ask because she's the adorable one," explained Rose.

"We don't have to go, you know? I don't want to bother your family, James," said Padme.

"Nonsense. My grandparents love visitors, you really won't be bothering them at all. They'll be thrilled to meet you!"

Lily came back with a triumphant smile.

"They said yes!" she jumped excitedly, "They can come the week before we start school again!"

"Sounds good for you guys?" asked Padme.

Jennifer and Anakin nodded.

"We'll come and pick you up in our grandpa's car and grab Scorp along the way," said Albus.

"Oh! There's auntie Angelica!" said Anakin spotting their aunt next to her car.

They all hugged and said their goodbyes. As they all left, James grabbed Padme's hand.

"What is it?" she asked.

"How about a goodbye kiss?" he said.

She pecked him on the cheek and walked away, grinning to herself. She realised, however, that she couldn't walk away. James was still holding her hand, he pulled her back towards him.

"I'm disappointed you tried the same trick on me twice, you're not that lucky," he grinned.

She shook her head and threw her arms around his neck as he wrapped his hands around her waist.

"I love you," he said, smiling.

"I know," she answered before kissing him.

THE END

 **Thank you so much for reading** **I truly hope you enjoyed it!**


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